+GERMAN-LIFE-IN-!- 
TOWN -AND- COUNTRY 


WILLIAM- H-DAWSON 


OUR  EUROPEAN  NEIGHBOURS 

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OUR  EUROPEAN 
NEIGHBOURS 

EDITED   BY 

WILLIAM  HARBUTT  DAWSON 


GERMAN  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND 
COUNTRY 


OLD  BRUNSWICK 


GERMAN  LIFE 
IN  TOWN  AND 
COUNTRY** 


BY 

WILLIAM   HARBUTT  DAWSON 

AUTHOR  OF  "  GERMANY  AND  THE  GERMANS,"  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S    SONS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

"Knickerbocker  press 


COPYRIGHT,  zgox 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


1 3th  Printing 


L 
t     f  .  '     ( 


f?ntcfterboeftetr  pre««,  Hew  Worft 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  1 
WHAT  IS  THE   GERMAN'S   FATHERLAND 

CHAPTER  II 
SOCIAL  DIVISIONS. 

CHAPTER  III 

THE  "ARBEITER" 


CHAPTER  IV 
RURAL   LIFE   AND    LABOUR 

CHAPTER  V 
MILITARY  SERVICE 

CHAPTER  VI 
PUBLIC  EDUCATION 

CHAPTER  VII 

RELIGIOUS   LIFE   AND   THOUGHT 

v 


PAGE 


I 


22 


46 


.      68 


92 


.      122 


142 


281457 


vl  Contents 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  VIII 
WOMAN  AND  THE  HOME  .  1 82 

CHAPTER  IX 
PLEASURES   AND   PASTIMES       ....      2O7 

CHAPTER  X 
THE   BERLINER 236 

CHAPTER  XI 
POLITICAL   LIFE      ....  .      2^2 

CHAPTER  XII 
LOCAL  GOVERNMENT 269 

CHAPTER  X11I 
THE  NEWSPAPER  AND  ITS  READERS  3OI 

INDEX }19 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


OLD   BRUNSWICK       . 

A   NUREMBERG   PATRICIAN    HOUSE     . 

PEASANT   COSTUMES 

PEASANT   COSTUMES 

PEASANT  COSTUMES 

A    FETE   CHAMPETRE 
Knaus. 

THE  BRIDE'S  DEPARTURE 

Vautier. 


Frontispiece 


PAGE 

18 
26 
40 

52 
76 


80 


REVIEW   ON   THE   TEMPLEHOF   FIELD,    BERLIN     .         94 
STUDENTS   FENCING          .....       I2O 

THE   CIVIL   MARRIAGE  IN   THE   COUNTRY  . 
Vautier. 

A  WESTPHALIAN    FUNERAL       .  .  . 

F.  Hiddemann 

Tii 


.156 


viii  Illustrations 

PAGE 

A   BLACK    FOREST   PEASANT   GIRL      .  .  .      224 

C.  Heyden. 

THE   RIVER   ROADS  OF  THE  SPREE   FOREST        .      230 
Kretschmer. 

OLD  NUREMBERG 234 

A  VILLAGE  INN 246 

Breifbach. 

THE  IMPERIAL  PARLIAMENT  HOUSE,    BERLIN       .      266 


GERMAN  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND 
COUNTRY 


GERMAN  LIFE  IN  TOWN 
AND  COUNTRY 


CHAPTER  I 

WHAT  IS  THE  GERMAN'S  FATHERLAND 

IN  one  of  the  fervid  songs  which  Ernst  Moritz 
Arndt  wrote  to  nerve  his  countrymen,  in  the 
time  of  national  crisis  and  awakening  nearly  a 
century  ago,  the  poet  foretold  the  growth  of  a 
new  and  greater  Germany,  whose  boundaries 
should  be  co-extensive  with  the  German  speech. 
"What  is  the  German's  fatherland?"  he 
asked.  The  answer  was  that  in  the  time  which 
he  knew  to  be  coming  there  would  be  one  father- 
land for  all  the  Germanic  races,  which  should 
be  neither  Prussia  nor  Austria,  neither  Bavaria 
nor  Swabia,  in  particular,  but  these  and  every 
other  piece  of  European  territory  on  which  Ger- 
man was  the  people's  language.  When  Arndt 
sang,  and  prophesied,  and  fought  for  national 


/?•':'.'/ '•;          German  Life 

'  f     •      •- ' 

unity,  Germany  was  little  more  than  a  geographi- 
cal expression,  and  more  than  half  a  century  had 
yet  to  pass  before  the  movement  which  he  and 
countless  other  patriots,  both  of  the  pen  and  the 
sword,  laboured  and  lived  to  advance,  took 
practical  form.  Only  in  1871  did  Germany  as 
we  now  know  it  become  united,  but  the  unity 
then  cemented  proved  very  different  from  that 
which  most  of  the  national  leaders  of  Arndt's 
day  anticipated,  since  the  largest  of  the  German 
States  was  excluded  from  the  ring-fence  which 
Prince  Bismarck  drew  around  the  twenty-five 
sovereignties  which  still  retained  their  independ- 
ence, and  to  which,  with  due  regard  to  the  tra- 
dition of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  of  the  German 
Nation,  which  came  to  an  end  in  1800,  he  gave 
the  name  of  "German  Empire." 

Important  though  the  part  which  Germany 
has  played  in  the  politics  of  Europe  during  the 
generation  which  has  succeeded  the  crowning 
act  of  unity,  and  great  though  the  significance  of 
the  Empire  for  England  in  particular,  both  as  an 
intellectual  and  an  economic  force,  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  hazier  ideas  prevail  among 
us  concerning  the  constitution  of  any  other  part 
of  Europe  than  concerning  this  country.  The 
average  mind  vaguely  conceives  of  Russia  as  an 
amorphous  monster  of  a  land  extending  from  a 
vague  line,  running  somewhere  down  the  centre 
of  Europe,  eastward  to  the  Ural  Mountains  ;  and 


The  German's  Fatherland         S 

ignores  the  vast  Russia  which  spreads  thence 
into  the  illimitable  tracts  of  Asia.  So,  too,  the 
common  view  is  apt  to  identify  Germany  with 
Prussia,  and  to  overlook  the  fact  that  though 
Prussia  is  incontestably  and  beyond  comparison 
the  predominant  partner,  no  fewer  than  twenty- 
four  other  separate  States  enter  into  the  present 
Germanic  Confederation,  and  that  of  these  other 
States  three  are  monarchies  like  Prussia  itself, 
though  the  royal  titles  of  the  rulers  of  Bavaria, 
Saxony,  and  Wurtemberg  are  of  later  creation, 
being,  indeed,  part  of  the  more  durable  handi- 
work of  the  first  Napoleon. 

The  confusion  is  increased  by  the  titular  posi- 
tion bestowed  by  the  imperial  constitution  upon 
the  kings  of  Prussia.  In  reality  the  position 
carries  with  it  little  personal  power.  It  is  a 
presidency,  not  a  sovereignty.  As  German  Em- 
peror the  King  of  Prussia  simply  stands  among 
the  rest  of  the  princes  as  primus  inter  pares. 
The  real  power  belongs  to  the  representative 
Council  of  the  Federal  Governments  (the  Bund- 
esrath)  and  to  the  elected  Assembly  of  the  Em- 
pire (the  Reichstag),  between  which  it  is  divided 
equally,  so  that  the  one  is  a  perfect  counterpoise 
to  the  other.  In  the  Federal  Council,  Prussia 
naturally,  owing  to  rts  size  and  population,  en- 
joys a  much  larger  voting  power  than  any  other 
State, — having  seventeen  members  out  of  a  total 
of  fifty-eight ;  but  even  so  its  strength  is  barely 


4  German  Life 

more  than  one  against  three.  The  remaining 
members  are  divided  in  the  following  propor- 
tions,— the  Kingdom  of  Bavaria  follows  Prussia 
with  six,  then  come  the  Kingdoms  of  Saxony 
and  Wurtemberg  with  four  each,  the  Grand 
Duchies  of  Baden  and  Hesse  with  three  each, 
the  Grand  Duchy  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin  and 
the  Duchy  of  Brunswick  with  two  each,  and  the 
remaining  seventeen  States  one  each.  Hence, 
even  were  the  interests  represented  in  the  Fed- 
eral Council  not  so  various,  and  in  part  so  con- 
flicting, as  they  are,  Prussia  does  not  possess  the 
means,  even  had  it  the  will,  to  force  upon  the 
Imperial  Government  a  special  policy  of  its  own 
which  does  not  receive  the  full  endorsement  of  a 
considerable  number  of  its  allies. 

Yet  Prussia  is  none  the  less  the  backbone  of 
the  Empire,  and  it  was  by  no  accident  that  it  fell 
to  its  sovereigns  to  head  the  movement  which 
led  the  German  States  to  unity,  on  the  basis  of  a 
confederation  under  the  perpetual  presidency  of 
the  kings  of  Prussia.  Strange  and  romantic  is 
the  story  which  tells  how  the  patch  of  sandy 
plain  lying  between  the  Elbe  and  the  Havel, 
which  Henry  the  Fowler  took  from  the  Wends 
to  rule  himself  a  thousand  years  ago,  developed 
into  the  monarchy  of  Prussia,  which  was  to  give 
imperial  Germany  its  head.  "Good old  Henry," 
as  Carlyle  calls  him,  created  margraves  to  watch 
his  boundaries  or  marches,  and  keep  his  trouble- 


The  German's  Fatherland         5 

some  neighbours  in  order.  Among  the  mar- 
graviates  were  those  of  Meissen  (the  nucleus  of 
Saxony),  Austria,  and  Brandenburg.  Four  cent- 
uries later  the  Mark  of  Brandenburg  reverted, 
owing  to  the  failure  of  the  ruling  line,  to  the 
Emperor  Sigismund,  who,  in  consideration  of 
money  advanced  and  other  services  rendered, 
bestowed  it,  with  the  title  of  elector,  in  pledge — 
not  to  be  redeemed — upon  Frederick  IV.,  Burg- 
grave  of  Nuremberg  (1415),  a  member  of  the 
Swabian  family  of  Hohenzollern.  Land  was 
added  to  land,  by  marriage,  by  inheritance,  by 
conquest,  and  especially  Prussia,  lying  to  the  east, 
which  was  snapped  off  the  old  Polish  kingdom. 
Finally  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  became  King 
of  Prussia  by  his  own  act  of  coronation  (1701), 
and  in  the  monarchy  the  old  Mark  was  formally 
absorbed,  though  ever  to  be  regarded  as  the 
heart  of  the  realm  and  the  bright,  particular 
jewel  of  the  Hohenzollern  Crown.  It  was  fitting, 
nay,  was  inevitable,  that  the  line  of  rulers  which 
had  accomplished  this  marvellous  expansion 
should  lead  Prussia  to  a  still  higher  destiny. 

In  his  essay  Shooting  Niagara,  and  After  — 
of  which  the  title  rather  than  the  thoughts  have 
been  appreciated  by  the  British  public  to  whom 
it  was  addressed- -Thomas  Carlyle  wrote  (the 
date  was  1867,  just  after  the  Austrian  war)  :  "It 
was  a  clear  prophecy  that  Germany  would  either 
become  honourably  Prussian  or  gc  to  gradual 


6  German  Life 

extinction  ;  but  who  of  us  expected  that  we 
ourselves,  instead  of  our  children's  children, 
should  live  to  behold  it  ;  that  a  magnanimous 
and  fortunate  Herr  von  Bismarck,  whose  dis- 
praise was  all  in  the  newspapers,  would,  to  his 
own  amazement,  find  the  thing  was  doable  ;  and 
would  do  it,  do  the  essential  of  it,  in  a  few  of 
the  current  weeks  ? ':  And  yet  the  becoming 
"  honourably  Prussian  "  is  a  fate  which  the  non- 
Prussian  portions  of  the  Empire  have  consistently 
resisted  with  all  their  might,  so  that  even  now, 
when  over  three  decades  have  passed,  Germany 
has  not  yet  disappeared  in  Prussia,  nor  has 
Prussia  succeeded  in  inducing  the  allied  States 
consciously  to  accept  German  development  on 
specifically  Prussian  lines. 

It  is  necessary  at  the  outset  to  make  these 
points  clear.  Perhaps  ninety  times  out  of  a  hun- 
dred the  allusions  made  in  English  newspapers 
to  Germany  and  German  institutions  and  cus- 
toms relate  merely  to  a  part  of  the  country,  and, 
as  often  as  not,  words  and  acts  attributed  to  the 
Emperor  do  not  concern  the  Empire  at  all,  but 
relate  exclusively  to  the  person  and  functions  of 
the  King  of  Prussia.  The  Emperor  is,  of  course, 
Emperor  every  moment  of  his  life,  but  in  State 
affairs  he  possesses  two  distinct  capacities,  the 
imperial  and  the  royal,  and  the  one  has  not 
necessarily  even  the  remotest  connexion  with 
the  other.  Moreover,  while  the  imperial  senti- 


The  German's  Fatherland         7 

!nent  of  the  nation  is  on  the  whole  strong  and 
well-rooted,  the  individual  life  of  the  federated 
States  and  peoples  has  been  but  little  influenced 
by  the  political  unity  which  was  consummated 
thirty  years  ago,  and  especially  is  this  so  in  the 
larger  States.  The  lustre  of  the  Empire  has  not 
diminished  the  self-pride  and  self-consciousness 
of  any  of  its  component  parts,  and  though  im- 
perial laws  have  decreed  that  the  German's  fa- 
therland is  coterminous  with  the  entire  Empire, 
there  is  still  for  each  citizen  a  smaller  and  nearer 
and  dearer  fatherland — the  monarchy  or  duchy 
or  principality  to  which  he  and  his  fathers  be- 
longed when  the  Empire  was  no  more  than  an 
idea.  The  figure-head  of  the  Empire  may  impress 
his  mind  and  imagination,  but  his  affections 
belong  to  his  own  ruler,  be  his  Court  never  so 
modest  and  his  territories  never  so  restricted.  In 
Prussia  only  can  it  be  said  that  the  terms  Emperor 
and  King  convey  the  same  idea  of  sovereignty 
to  the  popular  mind,  since  there  is  here  identity 
of  person,  but  outside  Prussia  there  is  still  lack- 
ing to  the  imperial  title  and  position  the  subtle 
magic  and  the  deep  sentiment  which  have 
gathered  round  the  name  and  person  of  the 
immemorial  "  Landesvater."  Travel  in  Bavaria, 
in  Saxony,  in  Wurtemberg,  and  you  cannot 
fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  State-consciousness, 
as  opposed  to  the  Empire-consciousness  (if  the 
words  may  be  allowed)  which  characterises 


8  German  Life 

the  people.  The  Empire  and  the  Emperor  are 
gala-day  institutions, — very  real  and  dignified, 
yet  uninspiring,  and  remote  from  the  common 
interests  of  life.  It  is  the  territorial  head  of  his 
own  favoured  section  of  the  wide-reaching  Em- 
pire who  represents  most  really  to  the  "pro- 
vincial" German  the  idea  of  sovereignty,  and 
the  persons  and  traditions,  the  fortunes  and 
interests  of  his  governing  house,  however  lowly 
its  place  in  the  rank  of  potentates,  mean  infinitely 
more  to  him  than  the  grandeur  of  the  imperial 
fabric  and  the  splendour  of  the  imperial  name. 

Viewed  thoughtfully,  all  this  is  no  misfortune, 
but  the  reverse.  As  imperial  sovereignty  is  im- 
possible in  Germany,  it  is  obvious  that  the  po- 
litical future  of  the  country  is  best  secured  by  the 
preservation  in  undiminished  health  and  vigour 
in  every  individual  State  of  the  old  sentiment  of 
loyalty  and  personal  attachment  to  the  ruling 
head.  We  are  learning  that  this  sentiment 
affords  one  of  the  strongest  guarantees  of  national 
stability  in  these  days.  It  is  one  of  the  remarkable 
facts  of  modern  times  that,  in  spite  of  the  spirit 
of  unrest  which  is  abroad,  and  of  the  strong 
democratic  tendency  which  has  revolutionised 
old  systems  of  government,  the  monarchical 
principle  appears  to  commend  itself  more  and 
more  strongly  to  all  the  most  enlightened  and 
progressive  countries  which  have  not  done  vio- 
lence to  their  natural  development.  The  princi- 


The  German's  Fatherland        9 

palities  of  Germany  passed  through  their  time  of 
trial  half  a  century  ago,  and  it  was  severe  ;  but 
by  adapting  themselves  to  the  changed  condi- 
tions, by  making  concessions,  larger  or  smaller, 
to  the  newer  conceptions  of  personal  liberty 
which  had  become  current,  their  position  was 
strengthened  rather  than  weakened,  while  their 
political  efficiency  was  vastly  increased.  ' '  March 
Revolutions"  ; are  so  inconceivable  in  modern 
Germany  that  even  in  the  residence-city  of  Berlin 
demonstration  -  loving  Socialists  are  permitted 
once  a  year  to  pay  reverent  tribute,  in  the  form 
of  ribbon,  wreath,  and  oration,  to  the  memory 
of  the  insurrectionaries  of  1848,  who  lie  in  a 
well-trimmed  cemetery  of  their  own. 

Yet  one  of  the  most  canvassed  questions 
in  German  politics  has  come  to  be  this  one  of 
the  permanency  or  otherwise  of  the  Empire.  It 
is  wonderful  how  often  the  stability  of  the  im- 
perial edifice  is  endangered  in  the  eyes  of  short- 
sighted politicians  and  sensational  journalists. 
To  judge  by  the  ill-balanced  utterances  of  a 
certain  section  of  the  Press, — that  which  is  con- 
sistently opposed  to  the  Ministry  of  the  day, — no 
great  question  of  imperial  policy  ever  crops  up 
without  the  parliamentary  system  being  exposed 
to  a  tension  which  it  cannot  possibly  bear,  and 
the  Empire  receiving  a  new  and  graver  menace. 
The  late  Professor  Rudolf  von  Gneist  declared 
shortly  before  his  death:  "Discontent  with  the 


TO  German  Life 

course  of  public  affairs  is  the  natural  condition 
of  the  German,  varied  only  by  rare  episodes  of 
patriotic  enthusiasm."  It  is  a  severe  criticism, 
but  a  true  one.  When  any  party  powerful 
enough  to  be  regarded  as  a  serious  factor  in  the 
political  situation  fails  to  get  what  it  wants — to 
secure  the  passing  of  a  pet  measure,  to  force  the 
Government  to  adopt  its  line  of  policy,  or  to  re- 
frain from  following  some  other — it  is  the  com- 
monest thing  in  the  world  for  its  organs  in  the 
Press  to  startle  the  country  with  a  solemn  inti- 
mation that  the  Empire  is  in  danger.  Serious 
disaffection  is  reported  to  have  broken  out  in  the 
South  German  States.  Particularism  has  risen 
from  the  grave  to  which  it  was  unceremoniously 
committed  in  1871.  The  Federal  Government 
can  with  difficulty  preserve  even  a  threadbare 
appearance  of  harmony.  The  aristocracy  is  rest- 
ive ;  the  burgher  parties  are  anxiously  won- 
dering what  the  morrow  will  bring  forth  ;  and 
the  Social  Democrats  are  already  by  anticipa- 
tion dividing  the  spoils  of  a  sundered  society. 
In  short,  the  Empire  is  visibly  going  to  pieces, 
and  Crown  and  Sceptre  are  not  worth  a  week's 
purchase.  This,  of  course,  according  to  the 
Press  !  Here  is  an  actual  sample  of  the  sort  of 
foreboding  in  which  newspapers  of  this  stamp — • 
and  they  are  not  all  insignificant  newspapers, 
either — have  periodically  indulged  ever  since  the 
Empire  became  a  fact : 


The  German's  Fatherland       n 

'  Things  have  not  for  a  long  time  been  as  they 
ought  to  be.  The  artificial  rejoicings  which  a 
few  Court  purveyors  and  firms  that  deal  in  de- 
corations and  illuminations  propose  to  arrange 
on  the  return  of  the  Emperor  ought  to  cause  no 
illusion  on  this  point.  The  feeling  in  wide  cir- 
cles, particularly  in  the  South,  is  not  favourable 
at  the  present  moment  to  those  who  hold  the 
reins  of  power  in  Prussia.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  many  of  the  Courts  in  the  German  States, 
as  anyone  who  watches  the  Press  will  easily 
discern." 

"Anyone  who  watches  the  Press  !'  That  is, 
indeed,  the  secret  of  the  whole  matter.  For  any 
one  who  watches  the  Press,  or,  better  still,  takes 
the  trouble  to  go  behind  the  Press  and  ask  on 
whose  authority  and  responsibility  these  national 
crises  are  so  portentously  notified  to  an  unsus- 
pecting but  too  easily  disturbed  public,  will  dis- 
cover the  utter  hollowness  and  cant  of  the  whole 
system  of  sensation-mongering.  Germany,  like 
some  other  countries,  suffers  from  newspaper 
vanity.  There,  as  elsewhere,  the  journalist  is 
apt  to  magnify  his  profession  and  position,  and, 
under  the  influence  of  an  unfortunate  inflation  of 
ideas,  he  falls  at  times  into  the  error  of  imagin- 
ing that  he,  the  journalist,  is  the  true  ruler,  and 
that  kings  and  governments  and  parliaments 
simply  move  to  his  hand  like  so  many  pieces  on 
a  chess-board.  Such  a  misconception  is  excus- 


i2  German  Life 

able  now  and  then,  but  when  it  becomes  a  set- 
tled conviction  incalculable  harm  is  done,  and 
most  of  all  to  the  newspaper,  which  abdicates  a 
position  which  it  may  fill  with  honour,  and  in 
which  it  is  at  any  rate  taken  seriously,  in  favour 
of  one  which  it  cannot  really  fill  at  all,  and  if 
it  could,  would  occupy  illegitimately  and  as  a 
usurper.  If  anything  could  convince  one  of  the 
safety  of  that  much-threatened  institution,  the 
Empire,  it  is  the  success  with  which  it  has  with- 
stood the  multitudinous  crises  through  which- 
according  to  neurotic  journalism — it  has  passed 
during  the  thirty  years  of  its  existence.  But,  in 
truth,  the  Cassandras  of  the  Press  do  not  mean 
what  they  say,  and  as  the  years  pass  by  their 
doleful  predictions  are  more  and  more  losing 
both  terror  and  credence. 

It  is  undeniable  that  questions  have  arisen 
from  time  to  time,  and  still  arise,  bringing  to 
light  the  fact  that  State  rights  are  not  under  the 
new  regime  just  what  they  were  under  the  old. 
Disputes  have  occurred  over  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Federal  Council,  as  against  the  individual 
States  which  it  represents,  over  the  exact  degree 
of  independence  reserved  to  those  countries 
(Bavaria  and  Wurtemberg)  which  retained  a 
qualified  control  of  their  postal  or  military  sys- 
tems, and  even  over  the  constitutional  position 
and  prerogatives  of  the  Emperor  himself.  But 
such  disputes  were  and  are  inevitable,  and  not 


The  German's  Fatherland       13 

the  most  perfect  imperial  constitution  humanly 
conceivable  could  have  averted  them.  The 
wonder  is  that  they  have  not  been  more  numer- 
ous, and  have  on  the  whole  produced  so  little 
visible  friction  amongst  the  federated  States. 
But  the  Empire  is  stable  and  permanent  because 
the  prosperity  of  all  the  States,  and  the  inde- 
pendence and  the  very  life  of  most  of  them, 
depend  upon  its  continuance.  Political  idealism 
apart,  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  alone  will 
compel  the  States  to  preserve  the  tie  which  has 
held  them  together  for  thirty  years,  and  has 
vastly  increased  their  strength,  both  collectively 
and  individually.  But  there  are  more  obvious 
and  more  tangible  reasons  to  cause  them  to 
work  together  peaceably  and  with  united  will 
in  the  new  traces.  Since  the  Empire  was  estab- 
lished, the  German  States  have  enjoyed  a  meas- 
ure of  material  prosperity  such  as,  relatively, 
has  fallen  to  hardly  another  country  in  the  world. 
In  the  practical  arts  and  sciences,  in  commerce 
and  industry,  Germany  has  leaped  to  the  very 
front  rank  of  world-Powers.  The  example  of 
Belgium  and  Switzerland  has  shown  what  is 
possible  in  the  way  of  mercantile  progress  to 
small  States  whose  people  are  imbued  with 
Northern  energy  and  enterprise,  and  it  is  no 
doubt  true  that  even  on  the  old  basis --given 
the  absence  of  internal  disruption  and  external 
disturbance  —  Prussia,  Saxony,  and  Bavaria 


14  German  Life 

would  at  least  have  won  a  creditable  place  ill 
the  international  race  for  industrial  prestige  and 
wealth.  But  no  one  can  doubt  that  the  natural 
progress  of  these  and  other  of  the  States  has 
been  immensely  stimulated  and  increased  by 
the  political  advantages  which  the  creation  of 
the  Empire  placed  at  their  disposal,- -the  higher 
place  which  the  States  in  combination  took  in 
the  political  councils  of  the  world  ;  their  unas- 
sailable defensive  strength,  which  won  for  them, 
and  compelled,  attention  and  respect  where 
hitherto  the  German  name  had  carried  little  or 
no  weight  ;  and  the  fact  that  the  foreign  policy 
of  the  Imperial  Government,  while  primarily 
devoted,  according  to  traditional  principles,  to 
maintaining  territorial  and  treaty  rights  intact, 
has  never  ignored  the  opportunity  of  doing 
commerce  a  good  turn.  Prince  Bismarck  showed 
a  true  appreciation  of  Germany's  political  situa- 
tion as  well  as  the  instinct  of  a  true  statesman- 
ship when,  after  his  retirement,  he  addressed 
(in  1895)  to  his  fellow  Prussians  this  appeal  : 
"  We  Prussians,  we  Bavarians,  we  Saxons,"  he 
said,  "  we  are  Germany,  and  we  remain  so, 
and  we  must  study  Germany's  interests.  Cling 
fast  to  the  Imperial  idea,  even  in  the  Prussian 
Diet.  Do  not  forget  that  you  are  citizens  of 
an  Empire,  and  to  think  of  him  who  is  your 
King  and  Emperor,  and  who  has  duties  towards 
the  Empire  and  his  confederates.  I  beg  you 


The  German's  Fatherland       15 

not  to  pursue  a  Brandenburg  or  a  Prussian- 
national  policy,  but  a  German-imperial  policy." 
Prussia  is  alive  enough  to  the  wisdom  of  this 
policy,  while  out  of  Prussia  both  its  wisdom 
and  its  necessity  are  practically  acknowledged. 
Prussia  would  be  a  Great  Power  even  if  it  stood 
alone,  but  three-quarters  of  the  smaller  princi- 
palities would  soon  cease  to  be  were  the  Empire 
to  be  dissolved.  Hence,  though  the  imperial 
idea  may  not  have  become  so  thoroughly 
naturalised  as  the  best  friends  of  German  unity 
would  like,  and  though  slight  and  harmless 
ebullitions  of  particularism  have  not  been  rare 
in  recent  years,  and  may  not  be  wanting  in 
coming  ones,  there  is  little  need  to  apprehend 
that  the  work  of  Prince  Bismarck  will  ever  be 
undone. 

That  Germans  in  general  indulge  the  ambition 
of  further  territorial  expansion  in  Europe  may 
well  be  questioned.  None  the  less,  there  are 
national  idealists  -  -  and  some  of  them  very 
practical  idealists,  with  swords  hanging  at 
their  sides  —  who  profess  to  anticipate  a  time 
when  the  Empire  will  correspond  far  more 
faithfully  than  now  to  the  prediction  of  Arndt. 
Pan-Germanism  is  an  attractive,  though  at  pre- 
sent a  very  select  and  uninfluential,  cult ;  and 
Pan-Germanism  means,  according  to  its  inspir- 
ers  and  exponents,  not  simply  a  Germany  which 
extends  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Vistula,  but  one 


1 6  German  Life 

which  includes  Holland,  Luxemburg,  part  of 
Belgium,  and  the  bulk  of  Austria, —  in  the  words 
of  the  patriot-poet,  "Where'er  resounds  the 
German  tongue."  There  is  in  wide  circulation 
in  Germany  a  "Pan-Germanic  Atlas'  (All- 
deutscher  Atlas),  which  lays  down  in  black  and 
white  this  programme  of  a  larger  confederation. 
Taking  time  by  the  forelock,  the  authors  of  the 
atlas  have  already  added  to  the  Empire,  so  far 
as  printed  frontiers  and  colouring  go,  all  those 
portions  of  the  Continent  which  are  inhabited 
overwhelmingly  by  the  Germanic  stock,  what- 
ever their  existing  rulers  and  constitutional 
arrangements.  It  would  be  unfair  to  attribute 
to  the  Pan-Germanic  movement  serious  sig- 
nificance, and  unjust  to  assume  that  there  lives 
any  responsible  statesman  who  regards  it  with 
anything  more  than  a  pious  curiosity  ;  yet  the 
fact  that  the  idea  underlying  it  is  in  the  air  gives 
to  the  subject  at  least  a  speculative  interest. 

While  there  is  no  German  who  is  not  proud, 
even  to  a  certain  degree  of  overbearing  vanity, 
of  his  country's  ascent  in  the  political  scale,  there 
are  very  many  Germans,  out  of  sympathy 
with  material  aims  and  successes  of  all  kinds, 
who  shrug  their  shoulders  at  the  mention  of 
its  recent  economic  development.  Trained  in 
the  school  of  the  idealists,  and  forgetful  of  the 
realities  of  this  most  realistic  age,  they  prefer 
to  live  in  the  poetry  of  the  past,  and  would 


The  German's  Fatherland       17 

barter  all  the  modern  millionaires  of  Germany 
for  the  brain  and  soul  of  another  Fichte,  all  its 
manufactories  and  workshops  for  one  more 
play  by  Schiller.  It  is  refreshing  to  find  in  a 
country  which  is  at  present  the  world's  wondei 
for  rapid  advancement  in  commerce  and  wealth, 
so  strong  a  counter-balance  of  idealism,  which 
recks  nought  of  gold  and  gain,  and  deplores 
as  an  irreparable  misfortune  Germany's  rush  to 
the  front  as  a  mercantile  Power.  None  the  less, 
the  Germany  of  to-day  is  essentially  a  land  of 
shrewd-headed,  practical-minded,  deft-handed 
men  and  women,  who  are  determined  that, 
in  the  race  for  material  wealth,  their  country 
shall  never  be  found  far  behind.  Not  only  so, 
but  the  Governments  have,  in  every  possible 
way,  encouraged  the  commercial  and  industrial 
spirit,  conscious,  not  only  that  the  extension 
of  Germany's  markets  is  the  sole  way  of  finding 
employment  for,  and  thus  keeping  at  home, 
its  growing  population,  but  also  that  the  coun- 
try's costly  military  system  can  only  be  upheld 
so  long  as  its  material  resources  continue  to 
increase.  A  flourishing  commerce  is  the  goose 
that  lays  the  golden  egg,  and  that  is  one  reason 
why  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  agrarian  classes 
to  all  recent  measures  for  promoting  trade  at 
home  and  abroad  has  been  resolutely  brushed 
aside  by  the  Imperial  Government. 
Yet  it  has  certainly  not  all  been  gain,  this 


1 8  German  Life 

wonderful  progress  which  has  made  Germany 
a  land  of  countless  millionaires  in  marks,  and 
has  drawn  upon  it  the  impatience  and  dis- 
pleasure of  not  a  few  older  and  still  wealthier 
competitors.  The  quiet  and  peaceful  life  of  a 
generation  ago  has  gone,  and  in  its  place  are 
found  the  feverish  haste  and  ugly  scramble  for 
wealth  which  everywhere  so  conspicuously 
characterise  the  age  of  "getting  on."  The  ex- 
ternal appearance  of  the  country  has  changed. 
Not  the  capitals  and  cities  only,  but  many  a 
small  provincial  town,  which  once  on  a  time 
abounded  in  historical,  archaeological,  and  pictur- 
esque charm,  bears  witness  to-day  to  the  modern 
"  progressive '  spirit,  which  values  everything 
according  to  its  exchangeability  for  metallic 
wealth.  There  is.  it  is  true,  a  mediaeval  Germany 
which  still  defies  end-of-the-century  innovation 
with  success.  Go  to  Nuremberg,  to  Brunswick, 
to  Augsburg,  and  you  are  at  once  transported  into 
the  age  of  the  patricians,  the  Meistersinger,  the 
cunning  craftsmen,  whose  productions  in  wood, 
in  glass,  in  enduring  metals,  both  precious  and 
base,  and  in  decorative  work  are  still  the  pride 
and  wonder  of  industry  and  art.  Many  another 
ancient  German  town  has  so  far  compromised 
with  modernity  as  to  build  outside  the  historic 
boundaries,  so  that  the  Neustadt  ("  New  town  ") 
and  the  Altstadt  ("  Old  town  ")  meet  and  merge 
without  quarrelling ;  and  the  effect  of  this 


A    NUREMBERG   PATRICIAN    HOUSE 


- 


The  German's  Fatherland       19 

happy  arrangement  is  that  the  olden  charm 
and  picturesqueness  are  preserved  in  their  en- 
tirety. While  thus  the  nineteenth  century  suc- 
cessfully asserts  its  claim  to  recognition,  the 
centuries  of  the  Fuggers,  of  Diirer,  of  Hans  Sachs, 
have  been  guarded  with  delicate  and  reverent 
hand.  But  in  many  towns  it  is  otherwise,  and 
where  vandalism  has  triumphed  the  result  is 
wreck  and  desolation  indeed. 

There  come  to  my  mind  at  the  moment  two 
pictures  —  pictures  of  the  same  town,  though 
they  relate  to  different  periods.  Only  a  dozen 
years  or  so  divide  the  one  from  the  other,  but 
the  effect  of  that  brief  lapse  of  time  was  that  of 
a  fundamental  transformation.  It  is  a  town  in 
Central  Germany,  of  great  historic  interest,  which 
long  seemed  to  have  escaped  altogether  the 
tide  of  progress-  -for  such  let  us  call  it-  -which 
began  to  sweep  over  the  country  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventies.  Situated  amongst  the 
primeval  forest,  the  railway  which  passed  by 
seemed  almost  to  ignore  its  existence,  as  if  it 
had  neither  time  nor  desire  to  cultivate  an 
acquaintance  with  a  place  so  old-fashioned. 
Passing  into  the  town  beneath  the  ancient  Stadt- 
thor,  you  found  yourself  in  a  quaint,  grass- 
grown  market-place,  which,  save  on  fair  days, 
and  on  summer  evenings,  when  work  was  over, 
was  wrapt  in  an  air  of  old-world  quiet  and 
sleepiness.  Mounting  the  hills  at  whose  feet  the 


20  German  Life 

little  town  lies,  you  looked  down  upon  an  ex- 
panse of  red  roofs  and  rambling  Gassen,  with 
an  ancient  brick  church  rising  in  the  middle, 
and  the  only  sign  of  modernity  the  line  of  glit- 
tering rails  that  emerged  from,  and  lost  them- 
selves in,  the  forest  in  the  distance. 

Twelve  years  passed,  and  what  a  change  had 
occurred  in  the  meantime  !  The  hand  of  the  in- 
novator, the  improver,  the  reformer,  had  been 
laid  upon  this  unique  relic  of  antiquity,  and  its 
charm,  its  picturesqueness,  and  its  poetry  had 
gone.  Ancient  buildings,  whose  eaves  you 
might  have  touched  with  your  walking-stick, 
had  given  place  to  huge  stucco  structures 
which  seemed  to  dispute  with  the  very  hill-tops 
their  place  in  the  landscape.  The  old  timbered 
cottages  had  for  the  most  part  disappeared,  and 
gaudy  villas  reigned  in  their  stead,  made  to 
order  in  vulgar  styles,  and  flaunting  themselves 
with  all  the  airs  of  ill-bred  snobbishness.  The 
quiet  shops  of  old,  to  which  neither  name  nor 
sign  had  been  attached,  had  given  place  to  great 
modern  bazaars.  The  pure,  translucent  atmo- 
sphere of  the  valley  had  been  fouled  by  factory 
chimneys.  In  short,  the  sweet,  peaceful,  sim- 
ple old  life  had  altogether  passed  away,  and  the 
town  and  everything  in  it  had  become  sadly  and 
tragically  new.  The  fate  of  this  town  is  the 
fate  of  many  another,  and  it  is  but  typical  of  the 
great  economic  upheavals  which  belong  to 


The  German's  Fatherland    ,  21 

the  present  generation.  Germany  has,  in  fact, 
entirely  passed  over  to  the  industrial  and  com- 
mercial pursuits  of  nations.  Not  long  ago,  the 
late  Imperial  Chancellor,  Prince  Hohenlohe,  de- 
clared it  to  be  his  conviction  that  genuine  social 
progress  had  for  the  time  been  arrested,  and  the 
reason  he  gave  was  that  the  struggle  for  ma- 
terial advancement  had  checked  the  visible 
growth  of  all  higher  tendencies.  Granting  that 
Prince  Hohenlohe's  outlook  may  have  been  dark- 
ened by  the  distrust  and  apprehension  which  are 
more  natural  to  age  than  to  youth,  nevertheless, 
no  one  can  reasonably  doubt  that  the  spirit  of 
materialism  has  laid  hold  upon  Germany  quite 
as  strongly  as  upon  other  countries.  What  this 
means  we  shall  know  in  coming  years. 


CHAPTER  II 

SOCIAL  DIVISIONS 

SOCIAL  divisions  are  very  fine  and  precise,  and 
jealously  observed,  in  Germany.  The  rea- 
son is  not,  however,  the  influence  of  wealth, 
but  rather  the  fact  that  wealth  in  that  unspoiled 
and  unsophisticated  land  has  not  yet  become  the 
standard  of  personal  worth,  or  the  ultimate 
factor  in  the  determination  of  social  rank.  A 
man  may  have  at  command  the  gold  of  a 
Cro3sus,  but  if  he  have  nothing  more  he  will 
knock  in  vain  for  entrance  into  good  society. 
Hence  it  is,  that  between  "society,"  as  Germany 
defines  it,  and  the  moneyed  commercial  classes, 
there  exists  a  gulf  deeper  than  any  which  divides 
the  dollar  from  the  dime  in  England  or  the 
United  States.  It  is  not  by  any  means  jealousy 
of  wealth  which  causes  the  official,  the  military, 
and  the  educated  classes  generally  to  surround 
themselves  with  a  sort  of  Chinese  wall,  but  jeal- 
ousy lest  wealth  should  arrogate  an  influence 
which  only  belongs  to  it  in  societies  of  low  or 

22 


Social  Divisions  23 

decadent  culture.  That  there  is  just  a  faint  sug- 
gestion of  snobbishness  in  this  scrupulous  isola- 
tion and  reserve  must,  perhaps,  be  conceded  ; 
but  in  the  main  the  prejudice  is  intensely  honest 
and  real,  and  it  must  be  regarded  as  such  by 
anyone  who  would  truly  comprehend  the  spirit 
of  German  society.  The  merely  opulent  have, 
of  course,  their  compensations  ;  they  cultivate 
their  own  cliques,  entertain  each  other  sump- 
tuously, and  give  the  world  to  understand  that 
they  are  of  some  account  ;  but  they  are  not 
society,  and  they  do  not  give  the  tone  to  the 
community  of  which  they  form  part.  You  will 
hear  this  social  ostracism  of  unadorned  wealth 
indignantly,  and  even  furiously,  ridiculed  by 
those  who  suffer  from  it,  but  the  slight  goes 
deep,  and  is  accountable  for  a  good  deal  of  the 
disharmony  which  characterises  class  relation- 
ships in  Germany.  In  the  towns  the  sharp 
distinction  which  is  drawn  between  education 
and  money  has  simply  the  effect  of  allotting 
to  each  a  social  sphere  of  its  own,  and  as  the 
sphere  is  wide  and  varied,  no  great  practical  in- 
convenience is  felt.  In  the  country,  however, 
the  division  is  more  searching,  for  there  society 
is  limited,  and  the  operation  of  its  unwritten 
laws  is  consequently  more  invidious. 

How  little  culture  and  money  are  necessary 
associates  in  Germany  may  be  judged  from  an 
instructive  classification  of  the  nation  which 


24  German  Life 

was  drawn  up  some  time  ago  by  Professor 
Gustav  Schmoller,  the  well-known  economist. 
Schmoller  divides  the  people  into  four  broad 
groups.  The  first  is  an  "aristocratic  and  well- 
to-do"  group  of  250,000  families,  consisting 
(such  is  his  conclusion)  of  large  landowners, 
princes  of  industry,  the  highest  State  officials, 
popular  doctors,  and  artists,  and  also  rentiers, 
with  incomes  exceeding  ^450  a  year.  Then  he 
places  in  the  "upper  middle-class'  2,750,000 
families,  including  members  of  the  landowning 
and  commercial  classes  in  medium  circum- 
stances, the  majority  of  higher  officials,  and 
many  members  of  the  liberal  professions,  with 
incomes  ranging  between  £135  and  ^"450.  A 
third  group  takes  in  3,750,000  families  of  the 
"lower  middle-class,"  made  up  of  farmers,  art- 
isans, small  tradespeople,  officials,  and  the  better- 
paid  skilled  work-people,  with  incomes  ranging 
from  ,£90  to  ^135.  Lastly  come  5,250,000 
families,  which  he  assigns  to  the  "lower 
classes,"  comprising  principally  wage-earners, 
but  also  the  humbler  officials,  and  artisans  and 
peasants  of  the  poorer  class,  whoss  incomes  fall 
below  ^45  a  year.  The  classification  at  best 
can,  of  course,  only  be  approximately  accurate, 
yet  it  is  significant  of  the  comparatively  small 
incomes  generally  ruling  in  Germany  amongst 
the  classes  superior  in  education  and  social  rank. 
And  here  a  noteworthy  social  characteristic 


Social  Divisions  25 

must  be  named  in  passing.  The  existence  of  so 
many  universities,  scattered  over  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land,  has  the  effect  of  distributing 
culture  more  evenly  than  would  otherwise  be  the 
case.  A  considerable  educated  society  is  for  this 
reason  found  not  merely  in  one  or  two  choice 
centres,  but  in  a  multitude  of  towns,  and  in  this 
respect  provincial  Germany-  -if  I  may  use  that 
inexact  but  convenient  term,  for  the  Berliner  is 
really  as  much  a  provincial  to  the  Dresdener  as 
vice  versa — presents  marked  contrast  to  provin- 
cial England.  Moreover,  the  ubiquity  and  multi- 
plicity of  Government  officials,  who  are  largely 
educated  men,  offer  in  almost  the  smallest  of 
towns  the  nucleus  of  a  cultivated  circle,  to 
which,  thanks  to  the  diffusion  of  university  in- 
fluence, the  normal  elements  of  its  population 
invariably  contribute.  Hence  the  vastly  greater 
amenity  of  life  for  educated  people  in  the  Klein- 
stadt  (little  town)  as  compared  with  England, 
and  the  facility  with  which  the  new-comer  of 
that  class  finds  and  settles  down  in  a  congenial 
social  sphere. 

But  the  strongest  and  narrowest  of  all  social 
prejudices  are  those  which  are  indulged  by  the 
military  class.  It  would  be  impossible  to  exag- 
gerate the  feeling  of  superiority  entertained  by 
the  officer  towards  civilians  in  general,  saving 
those  of  higher  official  rank,  between  whom  and 
himself  he  is  compelled  to  recognise  a  certain 


26  German  Life 

identity  of  interest,  in  virtue  of  a  common  rela- 
tionship to  the  Crown-  -not,  be  it  noted,  to  the 
State,  though  it  is  the  State  which  keeps  both 
army  and  bureaucracy  going.  It  is,  of  course,  in 
garrison  towns  that  military  exclusiveness  is  car- 
ried to  the  farthest  extreme.  There  but  one 
society  exists,  and  it  is  comprised  of  the  officers' 
families.  Into  this  charmed  circle  no  one  else 
can  enter  save  by  some  rarely  and  discriminately 
bestowed  act  of  grace.  It  lives  its  own  separate 
life,  and  cultivates  its  own  special  interests, 
without  the  slightest  thought  of  who  exists  or 
what  goes  on  outside.  To  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, the  ins  and  the  outs,  so  far  as  this  privileged 
coterie  is  concerned,  constitute  distinct  social 
worlds,  and  if  one  talked  German  and  the  other 
Hebrew  the  alienage  could  not  be  more  com- 
plete. The  garrison  town  is  thus  no  paradise 
for  the  civilian  ;  or,  rather,  its  paradise  is  one 
which  he  may  not  enter.  Like  the  Peri  in 
Thomas  Moore's  poem,  he  must  stand  at  the 
door  disconsolate,  with  pain  and  tribulation  pro- 
portionate to  his  ambition  and  vanity.  There  is, 
however,  one  bridge  by  which  the  civilian  may 
cross  the  gulf  of  pride  and  prejudice  and  shake 
hands  with  the  officer,  and  of  course  it  is  a  golden 
one.  The  young  officer  is  the  most  desired  of 
matches,  not  because  he  is  a  fine  fellow  in  him- 
self and  dances  like  a  sylph,  but  because  of  the 
distinction  which  belongs  to  his  profession.  A 


CO 

LU 


CO 
O 

o 

t- 
z 
< 

CO 
< 

LU 
0. 


Social  Divisions  27 

military  marriage  is  the  dream  of  every  girl  of 
social  aspirations,  but  it  is  a  dream  which  can 
only  be  said  to  have  even  a  remote  correspond- 
ence with  the  facts  of  life  when  her  rank  is 
something  more  than  tolerable,  and  when,  above 
all,  her  father  is  well  provided  with  this  world's 
goods  and  is  willing  to  share  them  with  a  mar- 
tial son-in-law.  For  the  junior  officer  excuse 
can  be  found  for  thus  putting  a  price  upon  his 
own  head.  Unless  he  be  possessed  of  private 
means  marriage  is  impossible,  for  the  pay  is 
very  small,  and  below  a  minimum  income  he 
is  forbidden  to  covet  a  fireside  of  his  own.  It  is 
only  when  the  rank  of  captain  is  reached  that 
this  prohibition  is  removed,  though  even  then 
the  advantage  of  an  independent  fortune  is  a 
very  real  one. 

But  here  the  officer  does  not  stand  alone.  A 
peculiarity  of  professional  life  generally  in  Ger- 
many is  the  comparatively  late  age,  according  to 
English  ideas,  at  which  men  seriously  enter  on 
their  careers.  The  reason  is  the  long  and  severe 
course  of  training  which  the  State  requires  as  a 
condition  of  entering  any  department  of  the  public 
service  or  of  following  either  the  medical  or  the 
legal  profession.  At  an  age  when  with  us  many 
a  man  has  already  made  a  name,  and  won  for 
himself  a  position  which  satisfies  a  fair  human 
ambition,  the  German  is  still  patiently  and  indus- 
triously overcoming  the  preliminary  obstacles  to 


28  German  Life 

his  onward  march.  Hence  come  the  late  mar- 
riages which  are  so  common,  and  the  universal 
disparity  between  the  years  of  husband  and  wife. 
Both  law  and  medicine  are  hedged  round  by 
conditions  and  requirements  which  make  suc- 
cess a  very  real  index  of  merit.  Both  the  judge 
and  the  advocate  of  the  future  must  have  pur- 
sued systematic  legal  study  at  one  or  more  of  the 
universities  and  have  passed  searching  examina- 
tions before  being  permitted  to  place  foot  on  the 
lowest  rung  of  the  professional  ladder.  Practical 
experience  in  the  courts  of  law  follows,  and 
only  after  further  State  examinations  have  been 
successfully  gone  through  is  the  way  to  an  inde- 
pendent career  and  a  livelihood  clear.  The  legal 
openings  are  many  and  various,  though  few  are 
brilliant.  The  great  majority  of  jurists  elect  to 
continue  in  the  service  of  the  State,  for  judge- 
ships  of  all  degrees  of  importance  and  dignity, 
besides  a  multitude  of  administrative  positions 
presuming  legal  training,  are  within  reach  ;  but, 
so  far  as  income  goes,  the  private  practitioner  of 
ability  has  a  far  better  prospect. 

The  entrance  to  the  medical  profession  is 
equally  guarded  by  regulations.  The  theory  of 
the  law  is  that  the  practice  of  medicine,  like 
every  other  occupation,  is  free,  but  this  franchise 
is  merely  apparent,  and  only  applies,  as  with  us, 
to  such  irregular  professors  of  the  healing  art  as 
care  to  dabble  in  drugs  and  lotions,  and  take  the 


Social  Divisions  29 

risk,  which  is  a  serious  one.  The  use  of  any 
sort  of  title  whatever  is  an  illegality  of  the  grav- 
est kind,  unless  the  bearer  has  passed  through 
the  university  course  of  study  which  the  State 
prescribes,  and  has  duly  taken  his  diplomas. 
For  it  is  the  State,  and  no  private  corporation, 
however  august,  which  confers  on  a  man  the 
right  to  dispense  physic  and  to  relieve  you  of 
your  limbs,  just  as  it  is  the  State  which  author- 
ises him  to  contend,  at  the  risk  of  his  soul,  that 
black  is  white  and  wrong  right  in  the  courts  of 
law.  Even  in  the  very  personal  matter  of  the 
highness  or  lowness- -and  it  is  generally  the 
latter — of  his  fees,  the  State  Department  for  Pub- 
lic Health  claims  a  right  to  be  consulted  in  the 
rare  cases  where  the  local  arrangements  between 
the  medical  faculty  and  the  public  break  down. 
How  doctors  charge  has  always  been  a  problem 
of  the  utmost  mystery  to  the  average  English 
citizen,  who  is  more  concerned  to  keep  the  fam- 
ily physician,  much  as  he  respects  him,  out  of 
the  house  than  to  squabble  about  the  precise 
meaning  of  the  term  "  medical  attendance."  In 
Germany  the  matter  is  extremely  simple.  The 
family  doctor  does  not  charge  at  all.  You  fix 
your  own  fee,  send  it  to  him  on  New  Year's  Day, 
with  a  host  of  good  wishes,  and  both  parties  to 
the  transaction  live  happily  for  a  whole  twelve- 
month afterwards.  It  is,  of  course,  understood 
that  the  sum  handed  to  the  doctor  shall  be  in  just 


30  German  Life 

proportion  to  the  services  which  have  been  ren- 
dered, so  far  as  the  fallible  judgment  of  the  debtor 
can  determine  so  exact  a  point,  but  as  the  relation- 
ship between  Hausar^t  and  patient  is  of  the 
usual  friendly  and  intimate  character,  it  is  only 
in  exceptional  cases  that  misunderstandings 
occur. 

One  result  of  the  educational  and  legal  restric- 
tions which  surround  the  medical  profession  is 
that  a  very  high  standard  of  ability  is  preserved 
all  round,  and  another  is  that  the  profession  is 
much  closer  than  in  England,  and  its  members 
not  so  numerous  in  proportion  to  population. 
Public  confidence  in  the  entire  class  of  medical 
practitioners  is  unquestionably  strengthened  by 
the  public  conviction,  which  nothing  can  shake, 
that  there  is  only  one  possible  kind  of  doctor, 
and  only  one  way  of  making  him, — he  must  have 
passed  through  a  university  and  taken  there  a 
full  degree  bearing  the  seal  of  State  authority. 

No  small  proportion  of  the  pseudo-doctors 
who  thrive  on  the  ailments  and  the  credulity - 
mostly  the  latter — of  English  people  of  certain 
classes  would  in  Germany  speedily  find  them- 
selves in  the  clutches  of  the  law,  for  the  legal 
enactments  against  imposture  of  the  kind  are 
very  drastic  and  do  not  stand  much  on 
ceremony.  Not  long  ago  a  German  provincial 
doctor,  possessing  the  full  medical  qualifications, 
left  the  monotonous  paths  of  orthodox  pathology 


Social  Divisions  31 

and  began  to  practise  homoeopathy,  and  soon  he 
won  such  notoriety  that  persons  consulted  him 
from  far  and  near.  It  was  a  very  remunerative 
departure,  for  he  posed  now  as  a  specialist,  and 
charged  fees  accordingly.  Unfortunately,  a  case 
in  which  he  prescribed  a  phial  of  innocent  glob- 
ules, where  amputation  of  the  limb  was  the 
proper  and  only  cure,  ended  fatally,  and  a  jealous 
Public  Prosecutor  took  the  matter  up.  The  trial 
came  on  duly,  and  it  proved  a  national  nine  days' 
wonder.  All  that  could  be  alleged  against  the 
defendant  was  that  homoeopathy  was  no  substi- 
tute for  surgery  ;  there  was  no  suggestion  that 
the  medicines  given,  such  as  they  were,  had 
done  injury  ;  yet  the  Court  summarily  sent  the 
indiscreet  practitioner  to  prison  for  several  years, 
and  dispossessed  him  of  ^150  of  his  abundant 
profits,  by  way  of  fine.  The  public  with  one 
voice  applauded  the  verdict,  for  on  this  subject 
of  medical  propriety  public  opinion  is  very 
strong  in  Germany,  yet  perhaps  not  more  strong 
than  wholesome. 

Even  at  their  best,  law  and  medicine  do  not  in 
Germany  offer  the  prizes  which  are  attainable, 
by  the  privileged  few,  in  England.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  literature,  though  with  reserva- 
tions, for  by  all  accounts  there  are  gold  mines  as 
yet  unexhausted  in  the  domains  of  romance 
and  drama,  if  no  others.  German  letters  have 
had  their  Grub  Street  era,  but  it  is  far  behind. 


32  German  Life 

Klopstock  is  said  to  have  received  from  his  pub- 
lisher a  beggarly  six  shillings  a  sheet  for  the  first 
edition  of  his  Messiade,  and  to  have  compounded 
for  the  second  edition  for  a  suit  of  clothes  :  and 
Schiller's  early  poverty  is  only  a  counterpart, 
though  more  tragic,  considering  the  fine  temper- 
ament of  the  man,  of  that  of  Johnson,  Gold- 
smith, and  many  other  English  men  of  letters, 
whose  contemporaries  considerately  starved  them 
during  their  lifetime,  so  that  by  the  crucifixion 
of  the  flesh  the  spirit  might  soar  to  higher  alti- 
tudes. But  literature  is  nowadays  a  decidedly 
remunerative  pursuit  for  those  who  really  can 
write,  providing  they  write  either  novels  or  plays, 
it  was  recently  stated  on  good  authority  that 
Gustav  Freitag  received  as  much  as  ^21,000  for 
one  of  his  novels,  that  the  royalties  which  fell  to 
Fritz  Reuter  and  his  descendants  for  the  former's 
Plattdeutsch  (Low  German)  tales  amounted  to 
;£ioo,ooo,  and  that  Hermann  Sudermann  has 
already  derived  over  ^15,000  from  his  plays. 
But  successes  like  these  are  few  and  far  between, 
and  the  earnings  of  the  average  German  literary 
man  are  by  no  means  brilliant.  The  yearly  out- 
put of  books  is  fabulous,  but  the  library  and  the 
reading  circle  make  havoc  with  the  publishers' 
sales.  Moreover,  periodical  literature  does  not 
offer  those  wonderful  opportunities  of  earning 
";£6oo  a  year"  which  are  understood  to  come 
within  reach  of  even  the  literary  novice  in  the 


Social  Divisions  33 

chosen  home  of  the  review  and  the  magazine, 
when  once  he  has  bought  the  latest  guide  to  lit- 
erary opulence  and  eminence.  To  the  English 
author  it  must  be  a  source  of  perpetual  surprise 
that  one-tenth  of  the  splendid  and  scholarly 
books  on  scientific  and  technical  subjects  which 
see  the  light  in  Germany  should  pay  the  mere 
expenses  of  publication. 

Among  the  most  interesting  questions  sug- 
gested by  the  treatment  of  social  divisions  are 
the  position  taken  by  the  nobility  and  the  unique 
and  highly  complicated  system  of  titles  which 
has  grown  up  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
Notwithstanding  that  a  German  democratic 
pseudo-Parliament,  born  out  of  due  time,  de- 
creed half  a  century  ago  that  titles  should  for 
ever  be  abolished,  the  nobility  is  held  in  undi- 
minished  esteem.  Even  the  democrat,  in  Ger- 
many as  in  other  countries,  dearly  loves  his 
lord,  and  shows  an  abnormal  regard  for  titular 
honours  of  every  kind.  But  the  term  nobility 
is  one  of  wide  significance  and  embraces  very 
various  and  disproportionate  degrees  of  social 
distinction.  What  is  called  the  "  high  nobility ' 
(der  hohe  A  del)  embraces  members  of  the  ducal 
and  princely  (fftrstlicti)  houses  -  -  Germany  has 
two  kinds  of  princes  —  and  the  mediatised 
"countly'  (grdflich)  houses.  The  latter  are 
the  families  which  in  the  old  German  Empire 
stood  in  a  direct  or  "immediate'  relation  to 

3 


34  German  Life 

the  Emperor  and  possessed  both  seat  and  vote 
in  the  Diet.  Many  of  the  ancient  territorial 
houses,  on  the  other  hand,  recognised  superiors 
between  themselves  and  the  head  of  the  Empire, 
to  whom  they  were  accordingly  only  mediately 
related.  At  the  beginning  of  the  present  cent- 
ury, when  the  "Roman  Empire  of  the  German 
Nation '  was  dissolved,  a  large  number  of  the 
petty  rulers  were  deprived  of  their  independ- 
ence and  so  became  "mediatised."  They  belong 
still,  however,  to  the  "high  nobility,"  and  en- 
joy various  more  or  less  substantial  privileges, 
as  exemption  from  military  service,  membership 
of  the  First  Chambers  of  their  national  Legisla- 
tures, and  the  recognition  of  equal  birth  with 
the  reigning  families.  Important  judicial  func- 
tions were  originally  conceded  to  them,  but 
these  were  abolished  in  1877,  and  they  have 
likewise  been  deprived  of  certain  powers  of 
control  which  they  formerly  exercised  over 
Church  and  school. 

The  lower,  or  inferior,  nobility  (der  niedere 
A  del)  was  originally  identical  with  the  knight- 
hood, and  comprised  those  who  received  knightly 
rank  either  from  the  Emperor  (old  style)  or  their 
own  princes.  Now  it  is  graded  into  counts, 
barons  (Freiherren),  knights,  and  noble  persons 
without  further  title.  A  severe  distinction  is, 
however,  drawn  between  the  old  lower  and 
the  new  lower  nobility.  To  the  former  are 


Social  Divisions  35 

reckoned  only  such  families  as  have  borne  noble 
rank  for  a  long  period  of  years,  and  only  a 
member  of  the  old  nobility  is  conscious  of  the 
immense  social  gulf  which  separates  him  from 
the  new  creations.  Again,  a  further  distinction 
is  drawn  between  the  hereditary  nobility  and 
the  ''personal'  nobility,  the  honour  being  re- 
stricted in  the  latter  case  to  the  life  of  the  bearer. 
No  special  legal  privileges  are  enjoyed  by  the 
members  of  the  lower  nobility,  for  though  they 
alone  are  eligible  to  certain  Court  offices,  and 
to  the  benefit  of  certain  charitable  foundations, 
these  are  only  prescriptive  rights  and  carry  no 
inviolable  title. 

Where  titles  are  not  enjoyed,  the  most  obvious 
evidence  of  noble  rank  is  the  coupling  of  the 
prefix  "von'  to  the  surname.  It  is  but  a  little 
word  in  itself,  but  socially  it  is  a  very  large  and 
powerful  one.  Let  a  man  be  able  to  sign  him- 
self "von"  and  he  will  regard  the  world  with 
very  satisfied  feelings.  He  cuts  himself  off  by 
virtue  of  this  one  diminutive  syllable  from  the 
entire  mass  of  ordinary  mortality,  and  there  is 
no  gift  or  faculty,  no  power  or  privilege,  which 
he  would  exchange  for  it.  But,  while  he  would 
not  barter  his  precious  prefix  away  for  any 
earthly  bliss,  he  is  willing  enough,  where  cir- 
cumstances make  it  prudent  so  to  do,  to  allow 
it  to  be  shared  by  a  partner  in  life  who  can  help 
him  to  support  it  with  becoming  dignity  ;  and 


36  German  Life 

the  cases  in  which  an  arrangement  of  the  kind 
would  appear  to  be  either  prudent  or  com- 
pulsory are  numerous.  Often  their  "bit  of 
nobility,"  to  use  the  phrase  of  Goethe,1  who 
himself  was  "von  Goethe"  by  creation  and  not 
by  inheritance,  is  the  only  worldly  possession 
which  remains  to  men  and  women  who  are 
prodigiously  proud  of  their  social  superiority  to 
the  richest  of  their  burgher  neighbours.  It  is  a 
human  weakness  which  one  may  well  regard  with 
indulgence,  especially  when  the  impoverished 
noble  can  say  with  King  Francis  I.,  of  France, 
"All  is  lost  save  honour."  And  yet  the  use 
of  the  magic  "  von  "  is  not  an  exclusive  mono- 
poly of  the  nobility,  for  there  are  burgher 
families  which  legitimately  attach  it  to  their 
names,  just  as  there  are  noble  families  who  do  not 
employ  it  at  all.  In  order  to  claim  membership 
of  the  lower  nobility  by  birth  it  is  only  neces- 
sary that  the  father  shall  already  be  nobilitated, 
but  in  the  case  of  the  higher  nobility  there  must 

1  See  his  Leiden  des  jungen  IVerthers  (book  ii.,  date  Decem- 
ber 24,  1771):  "And  the  splendid  misery;  the  tedium 
amongst  the  repellent  people  who  are  found  together  here  ! 
Their  rank  jealousy  —  how  they  watch  and  wait  to  gain  a  step 
over  each  other  ;  the  most  miserable  and  wretched  passions, 
without  any  disguise.  There  is  a  woman,  for  example,  who 
talks  to  everybody  about  her  nobilitv  and  her  land,  so  that 
every  stranger  must  reflect  :  '  Here  is  a  fool,  who  imagines 
the  most  wonderful  things  about  her  bit  of  nobility  and  the 
fame  of  her  country,'  "  etc. 


Social  Divisions  37 

be  unquestionable  noble  blood  on  both  sides. 
The  right  to  confer  this  noble  prefix  lies  with 
the  prince  of  each  State,  but  it  is  not  largely 
exercised.  In  the  more  important  States  eleva- 
tion to  the  nobility  is  awarded  as  a  mark  of 
very  exceptional  distinction,  where  such  a  title 
as  "Privy  Councillor"  or  "Real  Privy  Council- 
lor," though  both  very  dignified,  would  be 
inadequate,  as,  for  example,  in  the  case  of  great 
scientists  and  painters,  and  (much  more  rarely) 
of  famous  leaders  of  industry.  The  name  of 
Hermann  Helmholz,  Anton  Werner,  and  Werner 
Siemens  are  contemporary  examples  from  these 
three  departments  of  life.  In  more  than  one 
State  that  could  be  mentioned  the  noble  "von  ' 
can  be  acquired  by  less  arduous  means,  and  the 
power  of  money  has  even  been  hinted  at  in  this 
connexion,  so  that  in  such  cases,  as  Lord  Castle- 
reagh  wittily  said,  to  be  without  decoration 
of  any  kind  C'est  aussi  line  distinction.  In 
Bavaria  it  was  formerly  the  common  practice  of 
pushing  tradesmen  to  address  all  officials  as 
nobles,  and  many  a  plebeian  breast  glowed  with 
pride  at  the  complimentary  attention,  until  the 
Government  heard  of  the  irregularity,  and  sternly 
bade  its  servants  disown  sham  dignities. 

Great  importance  is  attached  to  titles  other 
than  those  of  nobility,  and  to  orders  ;  and  he 
who  has  neither  head  nor  tail  to  his  name  is  not 
regarded  as  belonging  to  the  elect  of  society. 


38  German  Life 

Prince   Bismarck   was  the   happy  possessor  of 
over  fifty  orders,  both  Prussian  and  foreign,  not 
to  speak  of  honorary  doctorates  of  law,  philo- 
sophy,   medicine,    and   even   of   theology.     So 
wide-reaching,    however,    is   the    State   service 
that  even  officials  of  comparatively  lowly  posi- 
tion can  always  hope  to  receive  sooner  or  later 
in  their  careers  some  titular  sign  that  their  work 
has   been   appreciated.     The   orders   and   merit 
badges  of  the  Crown  fall  almost  exclusively  to 
the  various  branches  of  this  service, --and  espe- 
cially to  the  defensive,  administrative,  and  judicial 
branches,  and  to  academic  teachers,  since  these 
include  the  great  majority  of  scholars  and  scien- 
tists of  distinction,-  -  and  they  take  the  form  of 
stars,    crosses,    ribbons,    and   medals,  far  more 
than   a   thousand   of  which   are   distributed   in 
Prussia  every  year.      "Decoration    Day'     (Or- 
densfest)  is  there  identical  with  Coronation  Day 
(January  18),  and  to  the  ceremony  all  the  new 
recipients   of    royal    favour    are    invited.     The 
common  official  title  is  Councillor  (Rath),  which 
has   many   forms,    as    Government   Councillor, 
Privy  Councillor  (which  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  English  title),   Real   Privy  Councillor, 
Councillor  of  Legation,  Councillor  of  State,  Coun- 
cillor of    War,    Consistorial    Councillor,    Court 
Councillor,  Councillor  of  Justice,  School  Coun- 
cillor,   Sanitary    Councillor,     Medical    Council- 
lor, Mining  Councillor,  Forest  Councillor,   Post 


Social  Divisions  39 

Councillor,  while  smaller  Courts  create  such 
titles  as  Councillor  and  Higher  Councillor  of 
Studies,  Councillor  of  Taxes,  and  Town  Police 
Councillor.  In  Saxony  the  commonest  title  is 
Court  Councillor  (Hofrath},  so  called  because 
its  possessors  seldom  or  never  have  any  associa- 
tion, direct  or  indirect,  with  the  Court  ;  it  is 
simply  a  title  of  courtesy.  Some  of  these  Coun- 
cillor titles  are  meaningless  and  paltry,  though 
nothing  could  convince  their  bearers  of  such  a 
thing,  but  most  of  them  are  dignified  and  carry 
great  social  weight.  A  title  which  often  crowns 
a  successful  mercantile  career  is  Councillor  of 
Commerce,  to  gain  which  distinction  an  ambi- 
tious man  will  often  make  princely  contributions 
to  public  and  benevolent  projects. 

This  superfluity  of  titles  is  embarrassing  in 
more  ways  than  one.  In  the  first  place,  it  is 
presumed  that  you  are  acquainted  with  the  dig- 
nities of  everybody  with  whom  you  come  into 
contact,  and,  in  the  second,  it  is  expected  that 
you  will  address  people  accordingly.  For  to 
address  a  person,  either  orally  or  in  writing,  who 
either  bears  a  title  or  belongs  to  the  official  or 
professional  class,  without  prefixing  his  degree, 
might  be  a  cause  of  great  offence.  Actions  at 
law  for  disrespect  are  even  instituted  because 
of  the  withholding  of  titles  rightfully  acquired. 
Mr.  A.,  who  is  a  Court  Councillor,  must  be 
spoken  of  as  Mr.  Court  Councillor  A.  Docto' 


40  German  Life . 

of  Philosophy  B.,  who  is  a  university  professor 
and  a  Privy  Councillor,  expects  to  be  addressed 
as  Mr.  Privy  Councillor  Professor  Doctor  B. 
Nor  may  Mrs.  A.  and  Mrs.  B.  be  overlooked, 
for  they  share  their  husbands'  titular  privileges  ; 
the  one  is  Mrs.  Court  Councillor  A.,  and  the 
other  Mrs.  Privy  Councillor  B.  But  the  custom 
of  prefixing  to  a  name  the  degree  of  the  bearer 
goes  through  the  whole  range  of  professional 
life.  The  convenient  English  "Reverend'  has 
no  equivalent,  but  instead  the  clergyman  becomes 
Mr.  Pastor  So-and-so.  Mr.  Juvenal  Brown,  the 
editor  of  the  local  news-sheet,  is  addressed  as 
Mr.  Editor  Brown,  and  on  the  same  principle 
we  have  Mr.  Stamp-Collector  Jones,  Mr.  Post- 
master Robinson,  Mr.  Road-Inspector  Smith, 
and  so  on.  And  even  where  the  claimants  to 
this  distinctive  form  of  address  are  indifferent 
to  it,  their  wives  are  not.  In  the  medley  of 
small-town  society,  formality  of  the  kind  is  ob- 
served to  the  point  of  childishness.  More  of- 
fence is  given,  more  heart-burning  is  generated, 
more  friendships  are  destroyed,  more  women 
are  made  unhappy  and  sent  home  from  the 
scene  of  social  intercourse  in  chagrin  and  high 
dudgeon,  through  disregard  of  this  trivial 
point,  than  through  all  other  causes  put  to- 
gether. 

And  here  some  of  the  customs   peculiar  to 
social  intercourse  are  worthy  of  passing  note. 


CO 
UJ 


CO 

O 
O 

I- 
z 
< 

co 
< 

UJ 

Q. 


Social  Divisions  41 

You  address  a  lady  whom  you  know  but  slightly 
as  "Gracious  lady'  (gnftdige  Frau)  or  "Gra- 
cious Mademoiselle'  (gnddiges  Frdulein],  ac- 
cording as  she  may  be  married  or  single.  In 
company  you  may  introduce  yourself-  -instead 
of  staring  vacantly  into  space-  -to  a  fellow-man 
by  the  mere  statement  of  your  name,  which 
promptly  brings  the  same  valuable  information 
from  the  person  accosted,  and  the  ice  is  broken 
at  once.  The  older  public  salutations  are  going 
out  of  vogue,  though  Germans  are  not  in  gen- 
eral so  prodigiously  vacuous  as  to  appeal  to  the 
weather,  past,  present,  or  future,  when  address- 
ing each  other  in  the  street.  "Obedient  serv- 
ant ! '  is  still  a  gallant  greeting  where  the 
acquaintance  is  slight  or  where  a  lady  is  saluted. 
And  here  it  should  be  remarked  that  to  salute 
first  in  public  is  not  the  prerogative  of  the  lady. 
The  English  practice  is  certainly  a  preferable  one, 
inasmuch  as  it  very  properly  protects  a  lady's 
dignity  and  choice  in  so  important  a  matter  as 
the  regulation  of  her  acquaintance.  The  super- 
ficial side  of  courtesy  is  best  seen  in  letter-writing, 
-not,  however,  that  the  deference  which  is 
paid  you  in  documents  is  always  intentionally 
insincere  ;  it  is  simply  allowed  to  run  riot.  The 
French  have  their  own  ideas  on  this  subject,  but 
the  Germans  rival  them  in  their  special  way. 
Here  is  the  beginning  of  an  official  letter  which 
a  person  of  educated  rank  may  any  day  receive, 


42  German  Life 

to  his  lasting  edification  :  "To  his  highly  well- 
born Herr  Doctor  [for  the  doctor  may  be  taken 
for  granted].  The  undersigned  permits  himself 
devotedly  to  inform  your  highly  well-born  self 
that  your  honoured  writing  has  received,"  etc. 
And  the  writer  may,  in  conclusion,  assure  the 
highly  well-born  recipient  of  his  "most  excel- 
lent high  esteem '  and  subscribe  himself  as 
"  highly  respectful  and  most  obedient." 

Such  a  parade  of  compliment  is  very  artificial, 
no  doubt,  and  prosaic  folk  may  see  through  its 
hollowness,  but  to  the  mass  of  men,  who  are 
not  insusceptible  to  vanity,  the  rigours  of  official- 
ism are  wondrously  tempered  by  the  elegant 
phrases  in  which  they  are  expressed.  The  ob- 
sequious Jewish  shopkeeper,  however,  is  the 
only  man  who  understands  the  gentle  art  of 
epistolary  address  completely.  If  you  are  a  no- 
torious nobody  he  will  address  you  as  "Sir,"  or, 
at  most,  "Honoured  sir,"  and  sign  himself, 
"Yours,"  or  "Respectfully."  If  you  are  some- 
thing above  a  negation  you  will  be  addressed  as 
"Very  honoured  sir,"  or  "Well-born";  and 
should  your  calling  be  associated  with  letters 
you  may  rely  on  receiving  the  title  of  "Doctor," 
whether  you  have  had  it  before  or  not,  from 
your  "highly  respectful'  or  "most  humble," 
but  in  all  cases  "very  obliging,"  correspondent. 
But  this  is  only  the  beginning  of  a  gradation 
of  compliment  which  in  its  higher  forms  would 


Social  Divisions  43 

be  sublime  were  it  not  ridiculous.  Not  only  are 
these  empty  attentions  given,  but  most  people 
insist  on  receiving  the  exact  degree  of  respect 
which  they  deem  to  be  due  to  their  position.  A 
Berlin  jury  a  few  years  ago  gave  a  singular  pro- 
nouncement on  the  subject.  A  lady  accused  a 
tradesman  of  an  intended  insult  in  that  he  had 
only  signed  himself  in  a  letter  ''Most  humbly," 
and  not  "Respectfully  and  most  humbly,"  and 
the  Court  took  the  complainant's  view  and  fined 
the  offender,  though  on  appeal  its  verdict  was 
reversed.  Polite  usage  requires  a  clergyman  to 
be  addressed  with  "Your  reverence,"  instead  of 
with  the  unoriginal  "Dear  sir."  Where  high 
officials  have  to  be  approached,  deference  be- 
comes doubly  and  trebly  servile  ;  yet  here  there 
is  a  proper  code  of  formality  which  may  not  be 
departed  from  on  pain  of  giving  dire  offence. 
"Full  of  reverence,"  "Dutifully,"  and  "  Full  of 
awe,"  are  rising  grades.  Here  is  an  address 
which  is  probably  written  hundreds  of  times 
a  week  in  Germany,  for  it  is  the  courtesy  due 
to  a  well-known  public  official,  whose  rank  is 
very  far  below  that  of  a  Minister  of  State  : 
"Highly-reverenced  Mr.  Real  Privy  Councillor, 
highly-to-be-reverenced  Mr.  President."  A  Min- 
ister of  State  is  addressed  as  "  High  and  mighty," 
though  the  words  may  even  be  used  in  the 
superlative.  A  ruling  Count  is  "Illustrious,"  a 
Prince  (not  of  the  royal  blood)  "Most  Serene," 


44  German  Life 

and  a  Prince  of  the  blood  "Royal  Highness," 
while  to  a  King  are  applied  all  the  attributes  of 
dignity,  grandeur,  and  awe,  in  their  supremest 
forms,  which  can  well  be  expressed  in  poor, 
mortal  words. 

Though  titles  and  honours  are  so  numerous 
and  so  various,  the  law  accords  to  them  all  its 
jealous  protection.  In  Prussia  punishment  by  a 
heavy  fine  and  imprisonment  may  be  incurred 
by  anyone  who  without  right  uses  either  title, 
"  predicate  of  nobility,"  order,  or  other  decora- 
tion, official  designation  or  emblem,  and  even 
uniform.  The  laws  on  this  subject  would  abolish 
not  a  few  titular  absurdities  and  impertinences 
common  in  England.  For  in  Germany  you  may 
be  sure  that  a  man's  title,  whether  official  or 
professional,  is  genuine  and  legal,  even  though 
it  should  at  times  strike  you  as  incongruous. 
There  are  no  sham  doctors,  whether  of  letters  or 
medicine,  no  "professors"  of  music  or  art  save 
those  who  are  either  attached  to  State  academies, 
or  have  received  the  title  by  special  favour  of  the 
Crown  ;  and  even  the  smallest  universities  are 
nowadays  scrupulously  jealous  of  any  disparage- 
ment of  their  degrees.  Formerly  the  conditions 
of  acquiring  these  were  in  some  cases  by  no 
means  onerous,  but  since  the  establishment  of 
the  Empire  introduced  the  principle  of  one  citi- 
zenship for  the  whole  of  Germany,  a  student  can 
divide  his  semesters  amongst  as  many  universities 


Social  Divisions 


45 


as  he  chooses.  Hence,  the  standard  of  the  less 
efficient  universities  has  had  to  be  raised,  and 
their  examination  tests  to  be  made  severer, 
though  there  is  yet  a  decided  difference  between 
the  best  and  the  worst. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    "ARBEITER" 

A  LTHOUGH  Germany  has  passed  beyond  re- 
r\  call  into  the  rank  of  industrial  countries,  the 
factory  system  took  root  there  far  later  than  in 
England,  and  its  great  expansion  is  of  compar- 
atively recent  date.  Down  to  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  majority  of  workmen  be- 
longed to  the  artisan  class,  for  the  handicrafts 
still  continued  in  health  and  vigour.  Employers 
on  a  large  scale  were  few  in  number.  Small,  in- 
dependent trades  and  workshops,  in  which  the 
masters  worked  side  by  side  with  their  journey- 
men and  apprentices,  were  the  rule.  Even  the 
old  Guilds  existed  to  some  extent,  though  their 
vitality  and  power  were  exhausted,  partly  owing 
to  organic  defects  which  had  long  foreshadowed 
decay,  and  partly  owing  to  the  gradual  rise  of 
new  economic  and  political  conditions.  On  the 
land,  labour  was  largely  forced,  and  the  peasantry 
remained  in  a  condition  of  serfage,  from  which 
the  Stein  and  Hardenberg  laws  of  1807 

46 


The  "Arbeiter"  47 

were  to  relieve  them.  Neither  in  town  nor  in 
country  was  the  modern  relationship  between 
employer  and  employed  known. 

Hence  the  general  conditions  of  labour  in  Ger- 
many to-day  are  precisely  what  would  be  ex- 
pected where  the  evolution  of  industry  has  been 
retarded.  The  number  of  hours  in  all  industries 
and  occupations  alike  is  excessive,  when  com- 
pared with  the  English  standard,  though  the 
German  Arbeiter  is  in  this  respect  no  worse  off 
than  Continental  workmen  generally.  Eleven 
hours  a  day  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  average,  but 
there  is  no  free  Saturday  afternoon,  though  the 
full  term  is  often  curtailed  somewhat  on  that 
day.  In  many  factory  districts  the  hours  even 
run  to  twelve  hours  a  day  or  more.  There  is, 
in  fact,  no  legal  limitation  in  the  case  of  men, 
except  that  Sundays  and  festivals  are  now  re- 
garded as  statutory  days  of  rest.  Not  only  is  the 
duration  of  work  on  the  whole  excessive,  but 
the  factories  and  workshops,  in  spite  of  legal 
regulations  and  Government  inspection,  often 
leave  much  to  be  desired  on  the  score  of  healthi- 
ness and  comfort.  But  amongst  work-people 
the  movement  in  favour  of  the  legal  restriction 
of  the  hours  of  toil  is  spreading  rapidly.  The 
Socialist  party  used  to  demand  a  ten-hour  day, 
but  it  now  asks  for  a  normal  day  of  eight  hours, 
on  the  plea  that  with  such  a  limitation  work 
would  be  provided  for  the  unemployed  and 


48  German  Life 

over-production  would  be  reduced.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  trade-unions  ask  that  the  num- 
ber of  hours  may  be  fixed  locally,  so  that  the 
special  circumstances  of  every  district  and 
every  industry  may  be  allowed  to  influence  the 
determination  of  the  normal  day.  Yet  a  long 
time  must  elapse  before  Germany  will  adopt  the 
limitations  already  enforced  in  England.  The 
manufacturers  strongly  oppose  a  legal  reduction 
of  hours,  on  the  ground  that  they  are  striving  to 
build  up  foreign  trade,  and  that  they  are  already 
heavily  hampered  by  the  obligations  which  are  im- 
posed on  them  by  the  Industrial  Insurance  Laws. 
Very  considerable  restrictions  are,  on  the 
other  hand,  placed  upon  the  employment  in  fac- 
tories and  workshops  of  children,  young  people, 
and  women,  in  whose  protection  the  German 
laws  go  much  farther  than  can  be  expected  in 
England  for  many  years  to  come.  It  has  even 
been  proposed  that  married  women  should  be 
excluded  from  the  factories  altogether.  How 
such  a  far-going  measure  is  regarded  by  the 
manufacturers  may  be  judged  from  a  petition 
recently  addressed  from  Chemnitz  to  the  Im- 
perial Chancellor.  This  significant  document 
deprecated  the  placing  of  any  additional  limita- 
tions upon  the  employment  of  married  women 
in  factories,  on  the  grounds  that  "  wages  are  so 
low  that  it  is  a  presupposition  of  marriage  that 
the  wife  will  take  her  place  by  her  husband's 


The  "Arbeiter"  49 

side,"  and  that  "there  is  already  a  chronic  in- 
sufficiency of  economical  female  labour  in  the 
textile  industry." 

But  the  most  prolific  source  of  industrial  dis- 
content is  the  lowness  of  wages,  rather  than  the 
long  hours.  The  best-paid  classes  of  work- 
people do  not  yet  compare  with  the  same  classes 
in  England,  and  the  common  rate  of  payment 
is  very  much  lower.  Even  in  the  steel,  iron, 
and  coal  industries  the  average  earnings  do  not 
exceed  £\  a  week.  In  the  textile  trades  this 
average  is  not  reached.  On  the  State  railways 
porters  are  paid  from  155.  to  £\  }s.  a  week, 
according  to  length  of  service  ;  stokers  £\  to 
£\  8s.,  and  engine  drivers  from  £\  js.  to  £2. 
Bricklayers  in  Berlin,  where  the  wages  for  such 
work  are  the  highest,  receive  7^.  to  i%d.  per 
hour,  and  work  nine  hours  a  day.  It  is,  of 
course,  in  the  rural  districts,  where  decaying 
house  industries  are  carried  on,- -in  parts  of 
Silesia  and  Saxony,  on  the  Bohemian  border,  in 
the  Erzgebirge,  and  the  Riesengebirge  -  -  that 
the  condition  of  the  labouring  population  is 
most  unfortunate.  These  small  industries  still 
employ  over  half  a  million  people,  in  spite  of 
the  unequal  odds  against  which  they  have  to 
contend.  The  more  important  occupations  are 
weaving  and  spinning  ;  hand  and  machine  sew- 
ing ;  paper-,  metal-,  and  wood-working  ;  and 
musical  instrument  and  clock  making. 


50  German  Life 

Alike  in  regard  to  wages,  housing,  and  food — 
largely  potatoes- -the  condition  of  the  house- 
workers  in  most  country  districts  is  lamentable, 
and  in  towns  it  is  not  much  better.  It  would, 
indeed,  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  misery 
which  has  for  years  been  the  lot  of  this  class  of 
workers.  Where,  as  in  Silesia,  a  hand-weaver 
is  glad  to  earn  55.  or  6s.  for  work  which  occu- 
pies nine  days  of  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  hours 
(less  than  a  halfpenny  per  hour),  while  his  wife 
toils  six  hours  a  day  for  three  weeks  to  com- 
plete a  web  which  will  bring  her  an  equal  sum, 
the  problem  how  to  make  ends  meet  suggests 
to  the  social  economist  many  reflections.  Yet 
with  all  their  poverty  these  people  are  self- 
reliant,  upright,  and  not  without  the  crowning 
virtue  of  self-respect.  The  Governments  do 
their  best  to  relieve  exceptionally  acute  distress 
when  it  occurs,  and  early  every  winter  the  pro- 
spects of  the  poorer  classes  of  house-workers 
located  in  remote  districts  are  carefully  inquired 
into,  so  that  contingencies  may  be  prepared  for. 
Next  to  the  house-workers,  women  are  the 
worst  paid,  especially  where,  as  often  happens 
in  towns,  there  is  severe  competition  for  the 
work  offered.  An  investigation  into  the  wages 
earned  by  sixty  thousand  women  engaged  in 
Berlin  showed  a  weekly  average  of  105.  to  115. 
The  minimum  fell  to  8s.  and  75.,  and  the  highest 
rates  were  155.  to  175.  Out  of  such  earnings 


The  "Arbeiter 


" 


the  female  worker  had  to  pay  85.  to  95.  for  food 
and  lodging.  Beginners  and  unskilful  work- 
people, however,  can  hardly  earn  enough  to 
provide  the  absolute  necessaries  of  existence. 
In  Posen,  women's  wages  for  home-sewing  only 
amount  to  from  6d.  to  yd.  per  day  of  eleven 
hours. 

Nevertheless,  industrial  wages  in  Germany 
tend  to  increase  :  of  this  there  cannot  be  a  doubt. 
The  development  of  the  national  industries,  the 
extension  of  foreign  trade,  and  the  growing  dis- 
satisfaction and  assertiveness  of  the  urban  work- 
people have  all  contributed  to  this  tendency. 
Strikes  for  better  pay  are  no  longer  of  rare  oc- 
currence, and  now  that  the  conviction  is  spread- 
ing amongst  working-men  of  all  classes  that 
Jack  is  as  good  as  —  or  better  than  —  his  master, 
peaceful  relationships  between  employers  and 
employed  can  be  counted  on  with  no  greater 
certainty  than  elsewhere. 

Yet  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  increase 
of  wages  has  produced  a  corresponding  improve- 
ment in  the  material  condition  of  the  working 
classes  generally.  Taking  the  country  as  a 
whole,  the  standard  of  life  is  certainly  higher 
than  twenty  and  even  ten  years  ago,  but  the 
very  causes  which  have  enabled  the  working- 
man  to  secure  better  remuneration  for  his  labour, 
coupled  often  with  a  shorter  workday,  have 
made  demands  upon  his  purse  which  have 


52  German  Life 

.argely  nullified  the  advantages  so  gained.  House 
rents  in  the  towns  have  largely,  in  some  cases 
ruinously,  increased,  and  the  rise  in  prices,  con- 
sequent to  some  extent  upon  the  drastic  system 
of  Protection  which  is  now  in  force,  has  made 
many  of  the  necessities  and  comforts  of  life 
dearer  even  to  the  producer  himself.  The  fol- 
lowing actual  weekly  budget  of  a  working-man 
of  average  earnings  may  be  taken  as  fairly  repre- 
sentative. The  income  was  235.,  and  this  was 
distributed  as  follows  :  -  -  Rent,  }s.  8d.  ;  taxes, 
4d.  ;  clothing,  2s.  nd.  ;  coffee,  *]\d.  ;  potatoes, 
is.  ii^d.  ;  cheese,  *]\d.  ;  butter  and  fat,  2S.  6d.  ; 
beer,  is.  ^\d.  ;  bread,  is.  ^d.  ;  meat,  is.  jd.  ; 
fire  and  light,  is.  4d.  ;  total,  i8s.  id.,  so  that 
there  remained  for  pleasure,  school  expenses, 
and  as  savings  towards  old  age,  the  sum  of 
4s.  1 1  d. 

The  system  of  taking  meals  away  from  home 
prevails  amongst  the  working  classes  of  Ger- 
many to  a  large  and  increasing  extent.  Partly 
it  is  due  to  the  long  distances  which  urban 
work-people  must  travel  to  and  from  work  ; 
partly  to  the  fact  that  husband  and  wife  are 
often  equal  contributors  to  the  domestic  purse, 
so  that  no  one  remains  in  charge  of  the  home  ; 
but  another  reason  is  the  simpler  fare  with  which 
the  German  workman  is  contented,  and  this  he 
can  obtain  easily  and  inexpensively  from  the 
numberless  refreshment-houses  and  taverns 


CO 
ul 


I- 
CO 
O 
O 


< 

CO 

< 

Ld 
Q- 


The  "Arbeiter"  53 

which  exist  for  his  convenience,  and  thrive  on 
his  patronage.  In  many  of  the  large  towns 
excellent  eating-houses  of  a  homely  kind  are 
maintained  by  philanthropic  societies,  and  that 
on  a  paying  basis,  at  which  wholesome  food 
is  offered  at  ridiculously  low  prices.  At  the  so- 
called  People's  Kitchens  in  Berlin,  a  farthing  will 
purchase  a  substantial  roll  of  bread  ;  a  half- 
penny commands  a  basin  of  soup  ;  and  for  a 
penny  the  diner  may  revel  in  the  succulency  and 
mystery  of  wonderfully  named  sausages,  con- 
suming any  reasonable  number  of  huge  chunks 
of  loaf-bread  ;  while  a  set-dinner  of  truly  Gar- 
gantuan proportions  may  be  had  for  threepence. 
How  far  better  the  condition  of  the  German 
labouring  classes  might  have  become  had  they 
endeavoured  to  work  out  their  own  salvation  on 
the  lines  and  by  the  measures  adopted  in  Eng- 
land, is  an  interesting  point  of  speculation. 
Where  German  work-people  show  to  great 
disadvantage  when  compared  with  English  is  in 
their  failure  to  take  advantage  of  trade-union 
combinations.  In  political  organisation  and  war- 
fare, and  in  mastery  of  political  propagandism, 
the  German  workman  is  incomparable.  In  in- 
dustrial organisation  and  warfare --in  spite  of 
all  his  talk  of  solidarity — he  is  a  child,  and  it  is 
seldom  that  he  can  hold  his  own  in  any  severe 
labour  dispute  which  is  pushed  to  the  pitiful 
arbitrament  of  the  strike.  Taking  strikes  which 


54  German  Life 

happened  during  five  recent  years  in  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Baden,  in  which  are  the  industrial 
towns  of  Karlsruhe,  Mannheim,  Pforzheim,  Frei- 
burg, and  Constance,  two-thirds  ended  in  the 
total  defeat  of  the  work-people  engaged.  The 
greatest  strike  of  modern  times  in  Germany - 
that  of  the  colliers  of  the  Saar  coal-field  in  1892- 
93 --was  begun  under  circumstances  which  to 
the  organised  and  practical-minded  English  trade- 
unionist  must  have  denoted  the  height  of  folly. 
The  miners  acted  at  the  outset  on  no  concerted 
plan  ;  no  serious  attempt  was  made  to  avert 
a  struggle  before  the  men  went  out  ;  and, 
strangest  fact  of  all,  the  strikers  had  in  readiness 
no  funds  whatever  wherewith  to  carry  on  the 
struggle,  and,  while  it  lasted,  had  to  subsist 
upon  casual  collections  raised  in  all  parts  of  Eu- 
rope. What  made  the  strike  the  more  remark- 
able was  the  fact  that  the  employes  of  the  State 
mines  were  the  chief  strikers,  and  by  universal 
testimony  they  were  better  paid  and  better 
treated  than  any  others  in  the  Saar  coal-field. 

Unpractical  in  this  as  in  some  other  things, 
the  German  workman  has  lavished  his  energies 
and  his  means  upon  political  organisations, 
which  have  made  him  discontented  with  his 
condition  without  showing  him  how  to  improve 
it.  The  triumphs  of  Social  Democracy  are  a 
proof  of  his  marvellous  capacity  for  organisation, 
as  well  as  of  his  enthusiasm  for  an  idea,  but 


The  "Arbeiter"  55 

Social  Democracy  has  never  yet  added  a  cubit  to 
his  material  stature.  Ferdinand  Lassalle,  it  is 
true,  strove  to  win  the  German  working  classes 
for  Socialism  and  Political  Democracy,  but  hand 
in  hand  with  his  political  agitation  and  ideals 
went  practical  measures-  -dreamy,  let  it  be  ad- 
mitted--the  effect  of  which  was  to  have  been 
the  economic  advancement  of  the  working 
classes,  part  passu  with  their  assumption  of 
greater  political  power.  Modern  Social  Demo- 
cracy--the  Social  Democracy  of  which  Lieb- 
knecht  and  Bebel  have  been  the  principal 
exponents  —  has  reversed  this  order.  The  ma- 
terial welfare  of  the  working  classes  is,  of  course, 
its  ultimate  aim,  but  instead  of  aiming  at  progress 
line  upon  line,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  it 
has  elected  neither  to  ask  nor  to  accept  anything 
short  of  ultimate  aims.  It  is  as  though  the 
seekers  after  the  Promised  Land  had  sent  all 
their  tents  and  baggage  on  before,  forgetting 
that  the  way  thither  lay  through  the  wilderness- 
wandering  and  travail  of  many  years. 

And  what  has  Social  Democracy  done  for  the 
German  working-man  ?  Given  him  an  ideal. 
That  is  true,  and  it  is  something  in  this  intensely 
practical  age.  Made  him  a  unit  in  a  mighty  party 
unique  in  the  history  of  political  organisation 
and  propagandism.  That  is  equally  incontest- 
able. But  when  so  much  is  admitted,  the  fact 
still  remains  that,  so  far  as  his  material  condition 


56  German  Life 

goes,  it  has  bettered  him  but  little,  if  at  all.     1 
am  aware   that  it  may  be  objected  that  this  is 
a  low  and  inadequate  way  of  judging  a  great 
political  movement,  the  like  of  which  the  world 
has  not  before  known.     But  the  answer  is  that 
the  avowed  aim  and  end  of  Social  Democracy  is 
not  a  political  ideal,  is  not  some  perfect  con- 
dition of   political  government,  but   rather  the 
improvement  of  the  workman's  material  status, 
—  that,  and  nothing  more.      Hence  it  is  legit- 
imate to  judge  it,  and  to  estimate  its  value  for 
the    working    classes,    by    what    it    has    done 
towards  securing  for  its  adherents  at  least  the 
promise  of  worldly  good, --the  only  good  about 
which  Social  Democracy  concerns  itself, —  which 
is  its  one  and  only  justification.     After  all,  the 
successes  and  failures  of  party  life  are  as  much 
dependent   upon   methods   as  upon  men  ;   and 
the  methods  of  popular  advancement  followed 
by  the  modern  leaders  of  German  Social  Demo- 
cracy have  by  no  means  justified  themselves. 
Had  the  incalculable  funds  and  the  vast  amount 
of  time  and  energy  which  have  been  expended 
in  one  way  or  another  upon  winning  the  work- 
ing classes  to  the  belief  in  an  economic  phantom 
-or,    if  the   expression  be  disputable,    in   an 
economic  order  which  at  best  must  be  regarded 
as  of  a  nature  of  the  far-off  divine  event  —  been 
used  in  securing  an  immediate  improvement  in 
the  general  status  of  labour,  with  or  without 


The  "Arbeiter"  57 

legislative  assistance,  a  double  purpose  would 
have  been  achieved  ;  for  then  not  only  would 
the  social  conditions  of  the  working  classes  have 
been  ameliorated,  but  there  would  have  been 
put  into  their  hands  long  ago  a  lever  of  political 
influence  superior  to  that  now  wielded  by  the 
Social  Democratic  organisation,  which  is  vast 
indeed  as  to  numbers  yet  powerless  as  a  prac- 
tical legislative  force. 

A  movement  of  a  very  different  kind --co- 
operation -  -  has  taken  firm  root  in  Germany  ; 
but  many  years  of  education  and  agitation  were 
necessary  before  the  working  classes  could  be 
induced  to  take  Schulze-Delitsch's  efforts  seri- 
ously. There  are  now,  however,  some  seven- 
teen thousand  co-operative  societies  of  all  kinds  ; 
though  in  Germany,  as  in  England,  there  have 
been  few  experiments  in  productive  co-opera- 
tion, partly  owing  to  the  financial  difficulty,  and 
partly  to  lack  of  faith  in  the  principle. 

While  excessive  hours  of  work,  and  in  many 
cases  inadequate  wages,  keep  the  German  work- 
ing classes  back,  and  debar  them  from  the 
possibilities  of  social  advancement  which  would 
otherwise  be  within  their  reach,  an  equal  evil  is 
the  costliness  and  defective  character  of  their 
homes.  Perhaps  in  no  country  does  the  hous- 
ing of  the  labourers  and  the  poor  better  deserve 
to  be  characterised  as  a  " burning  question." 
In  many  large  towns,  working-men's  families 


58  German  Life 

are  compelled  to  live  under  conditions  which 
endanger  health,  and  make  even  morality  diffi- 
cult. In  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  homes 
in  which  working  people  dwell  in  such  towns  - 
crowded  tenements  of  distressing  atmosphere  at 
best,  though  often  dark  and  humid  cellars --are 
the  utter  despair  of  social  reformers.  A  work- 
man in  superior  circumstances  may  secure  for 
his  family  tolerable  domestic  surroundings  by 
expending  an  unconscionably  large  part  of  his 
earnings  on  the  one  item  of  rent  ;  but  there  is 
a  limit  in  rent-paying  beyond  which  a  working- 
man  will  not,  cannot,  should  not  have  to  go, 
and  when  this  is  reached,  the  dwelling  has  to 
be  an  inferior  one  ;  which  means,  that  the 
conditions  under  which  he  and  those  dependent 
on  him  live  are  not  as  favourable  to  the  pre- 
servation of  a  high  standard  of  life  as  they  ought 
to  be.  Where  the  earnings  are  comparatively 
high  an  urban  workman  may  be  able  to  afford 
a  house  of  three  rooms,  one  a  kitchen,  but  as 
a  general  rule  two  rooms  have  to  serve  for 
living,  cooking,  and  sleeping,  and  in  a  great 
many  instances  the  entire  household  economy  is 
restricted  to  a  single  apartment.  In  all  populous 
towns  the  labourers  are  found  crowded  in  huge 
barracks,  scores  of  families  living  in  the  same 
building,  each  with  accommodation  of  the  scanti- 
est and  unhealthiest  character.  When  a  work- 
man, his  wife,  and  his  children  are  thus 


The  "Arbeiter"  59 

"'cribbed,  cabined,  and  confined,"  the  attrac- 
tions of  the  public-house  exert  upon  the  head 
of  the  household  a  charm  which  is  too  evident 
to  need  remark. 

Hence  it  is  that  bad  housing,  improvidence, 
intemperance,  and  crime  go  hand  in  hand. 
How  completely  the  housing  of  the  urban  in- 
dustrial classes  is  at  the  mercy  of  their  pockets 
is  proved  by  the  following  estimate,  prepared 
some  years  ago,  and  now  under  rather  than 
over  the  mark,  of  the  percentage  of  income  paid 
in  rent  alone  in  four  of  the  largest  German 
towns  : 

Yearly  income.       Berlin.     Hamburg.     Breslau.     Leipzig. 

Undergo  ..  41.6  ..  26.5    ..   28.7  ..  29.9 

£30  tO  £60  .  .   24.7    -.23.5     ..     21.0   ..   21.2 

£60 to  ,£90  ..  21.8  ..  18.9    ..   20.8  ..  19.9 

Taking  the  first  two  categories,  as  comprising 
the  great  bulk  of  the  working  classes,  it  appears 
that  rent  consumes,  on  the  average,  33.  i  per  cent. 
of  the  total  income  in  Berlin,  25  in  Hamburg  and 
Breslau,  and  25.5  in  Leipzig. 

In  small  towns  the  housing  conditions  are,  of 
course,  far  less  objectionable,  though  every- 
where the  growth  of  an  urban  community  has 
been  found  to  have  the  general  result  of  deterior- 
ating the  homes  of  the  working  classes  and  of 
diminishing  that  part  of  their  wages  which 


60  German  Life 

should  be  devoted  to  food,  clothing,  and  the 
miscellaneous  necessities  and  conveniences  of 
life.  On  the  land  a  different  order  of  things 
prevails.  Here  damp  cellars  and  cold  garrets 
are  less  met  with,  yet  in  some  parts  of  the 
country  an  earthen  floor  is  the  rule  rather  than 
the  exception  in  a  labourer's  cottage,  and  as  soon 
as  the  more  pressing  problem  of  urban  dwellings 
has  been  taken  in  hand,  it  will  be  found  that 
even  in  the  rural  districts  there  is  great  room  for 
improvement.  A  hopeful  factor  in  the  situation 
is  the  increasing  interest  which  is  taken  in  this 
question  by  employers  of  labour.  A  few  years 
ago  the  employers  who  provided  convenient 
and  healthy  homes  for  their  work-people  were 
few.  To-day  they  are  many,  and  the  number 
increases.  Krupps,  who  lay  down  great  works 
and  then  build  model  towns  for  their  employes, 
are,  naturally,  rare,  but  there  are  now  few  large 
industrial  or  mining  concerns  with  which  are 
not  connected  workmen's  dwellings  offering 
advantages  superior,  both  in  a  hygienic  and  a 
monetary  sense,  to  those  which  can  be  expected 
from  private  speculators.  Building  societies  are 
also  beginning  to  enter  this  field  of  social  re- 
form in  the  large  towns. 

There  are  other  shady  places  to  paint  in  this 
picture  of  the  industrial  working-man.  One  of 
the  darkest  is  the  habit  of  drinking,  common 
to  the  lower  strata  of  his  class.  I  do  not 


The  "Arbeiter"  61 

say  drunkenness,  because  in  Germany  exces- 
sive indulgence  in  alcoholic  liquors  is  compatible 
with  a  condition  which  could  only  by  exag- 
geration be  described  as  inebriety.  Brandy 
(Schnapps},  of  course,  does  its  work  every- 
where the  same,  without  respect  of  person,  and 
where,  as  in  North  and  East  Prussia,  dram- 
drinking  is  common,  the  statistics  of  indus- 
trial intemperance  mount  high.  Yet,  with- 
out getting  absolutely  drunk,  the  average 
working-man  often  spends  on  beer  a  far  greater 
portion  of  his  earnings  than  is  just  either  to  his 
health  or  to  his  hard-working  wife  and  his  large 
family. 

The  common  dancing  saloon  is  another  source 
of  evil.  There  are  dancing-rooms  of  a  certain 
respectability,  but  the  average  haunt  is  a  place 
where  delicacy,  virtue,  and  chastity  in  man  and 
woman  are  bartered  in  exchange  for  an  eve- 
ning's mad  and  furious  riot.  On  Saturday 
evening  (less  nowadays  on  Sunday)  young 
people  crowd  to  these  places  after  the  fatiguing 
exertion  of  a  long  week  of  work,  and  plunge 
with  passionate  eagerness  into  their  question- 
able delights.  Resorting  thither  with  weariness 
weighing  upon  body  and  spirit,  with  physical 
and  moral  system  equally  enervated,  it  is  little 
wonder  that  the  giddy  dance  and  the  excite- 
ment of  physical  pleasure  stimulate  unrestraint, 
and  that  the  dancing  evenings  so  often  prove 


62  German  Life 

ruinous  to  character  and  sends  multitudes  of 
young  men  and  women  into  life  under  the 
burden  of  a  curse. 

The  modern  development  of  industry  is  also 
exerting  the  same  disintegrating  influence  upon 
German  family  life  which  is  noticeable  in  other 
countries.  In  the  days  of  the  old  handicrafts 
the  position  of  the  young  apprentice  was  far 
less  free  than  is  that  of  the  young  factory  operat- 
ive of  to-day.  He  was  generally  bound  for  a 
certain  number  of  years,  during  which  time  his 
place  in  the  home  of  parent  or  employer  was 
distinctly  a  dependent  one.  The  discipline  was 
useful,  inasmuch  as  it  had  a  tendency  to  tide 
the  youth  safely  over  the  formative  period  of 
life,  and  the  straitened  circumstances  in  which 
he  was  apt  to  live  helped  the  cultivation  of 
habits  of  economy  and  providence.  Besides, 
the  knowledge  that,  all  things  being  equal,  his 
early  years  of  tutelage  and  probation  were  but 
a  stage  on  the  way  to  journeymanship  and 
mastership,  gave  him  a  respect  for  his  position, 
and  so  for  himself,  which  had  a  distinct  moral 
value.  But  until  he  was  professionally  of  age 
he  continued  subject  both  to  his  employer  and 
to  the  ruling  power  at  home,  which  then  ruled 
indeed.  Nowadays,  however,  there  exists  no 
genuine  counterpart  of  the  apprentice  of  old  ; 
and  parental  government  is  rapidly  going  out  of 
fashion.  It  is  a  common  complaint  that  the 


The  "  Arbeiter"  63 

factory,  by  engaging  so  large  an  amount  of 
juvenile  labour  and  paying  it  (comparably  with 
former  times)  so  highly,  has  done  away  with 
youth  in  both  sexes,  and  has  fatally  weakened 
both  parental  authority  and  the  family  tie. 
Young  people  never  before  became  so  early 
independent,  or  so  early  shook  themselves  free 
from  the  restraints  and  associations  of  home. 
The  industrial  districts  of  Germany  are,  in  fact, 
having  the  same  experience  and  are  paying 
the  same  penalty  which  have  already  befallen 
countries  of  prior  industrial  development.  From 
a  very  early  age  the  young  factory  operative  is 
master  of  his  own  destinies  by  virtue  of  his 
earning  power,  and  he  uses  his  independence 
with  wisdom  or  folly  according  to  the  character 
and  strength  of  the  influences  which  played  on 
him  before  he  tasted  the  fruit  of  the  dangerous 
tree  of  liberty.  Here  we  have  one  reason  — 
I  grant  it  is  not  the  only  one-  -why  there  are 
continually  seen  flocking  to  the  camp  of  Social 
Democracy  crowds  of  young  men  whose  heads 
are  filled  with  crude  and  often  wild  notions, 
and  who  are  the  ready  and  credulous  followers 
of  any  voluble  prophet  of  a  good  time  that  is 
to  come  without  any  special  exertion  on  their 
part. 

The  other  sex  has  also  a  penalty  of  its  own  to 
pay.  In  the  industrial  classes  the  cultivation  of 
the  simple  arts  of  domestic  life  is  no  longer 


64  German  Life 

followed  with  the  old  interest  and  eagerness,  for 
that  is  impossible.  Sent  out  from  the  home  to 
the  factory  and  workshop  as  soon  as  the  school 
years  are  over,  the  girl  of  thirteen  or  fourteen 
has  little  opportunity  of  learning  the  mastery  of 
household  management,  and  the  effect  is  seen  in 
the  deterioration  of  domestic  order  and  industry. 
Happily,  this  change  for  the  worse  has  not  been 
ignored,  and  serious  efforts  are  being  made  to 
counteract  it  as  far  as  possible.  Greater  atten- 
tion is  nowadays  given  to  domestic  economy  in 
the  elementary  and  continuation  schools,  not 
merely  in  the  way  of  instilling  a  certain  amount 
of  theoretical  knowledge  of  the  chemical  consti- 
tution of  foods  and  the  comparative  digestibility 
of  beef  and  bacon, — knowledge  which  is  doubt- 
less useful  in  its  way,  but  which  alone  will  never 
make  a  working-man's  home  happy,- -but  by 
careful  practical  instruction  in  housewifely 
duties,  cooking,  sewing,  dressmaking,  account- 
keeping,  and  domestic  art  and  industry  gene- 
rally. In  girls  beyond  school  age  countless 
benevolent  institutions  (called  "Household  In- 
dustry Societies  '  and  the  like)  interest  them- 
selves to  the  same  end  all  over  the  country. 

But  this  is  not  the  only  kind  of  unselfish  work 
which  is  nowadays  done  in  Germany  for  the 
working  classes,  quite  outside  the  ordinary  phil- 
anthropic channels.  The  "Central  Association 
for  the  Welfare  of  the  Working  Classes  "  and 


The  "Arbeiter"  65 

the  "  Association  for  Social  Politics  "  (I  translate 
their  names  literally),  both  of  which  are  national 
in  scope,  have  accomplished  results  the  import- 
ance of  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  overestim- 
ate,--the  one  on  practical  lines,  and  the  other 
by  careful  investigation  into  social  and  industrial 
questions,  periodical  conferences,  and  publica- 
tions of  a  social-reform  character.  The  former 
of  these  organisations  circulates  at  least  three 
cheap  journals  for  the  elevation  and  entertain- 
ment of  the  labouring  classes-  •  The  Workman's 
Friend,  The  People's,  Welfare,  and  Social  Corre- 
spondence. Much  is  done  both  by  public  and 
private  bodies  for  popular  education  and  the  dis- 
semination of  good  literature  amongst  the  people 
by  free  libraries,  reading-rooms,  and  circulating 
libraries.  An  excellent  work  in  this  way  has  for 
years  been  done  by  the  Free  German  Institute, 
whose  centre  is  Frankfort -on -the- Main,  the 
Humboldt  Academy  of  Berlin,  which  peroetuates 
the  enlightened  ideals  of  Wilhelm  von  Hum- 
boldt, one  of  the  founders  of  Berlin  University, 
the  Gehe  Institute  of  Dresden,  the  Coburg  Lec- 
ture Association,  and  the  Societies  for  the  Exten- 
sion of  Popular  Education.  The  Berlin  Society 
bearing  the  last-named  title  collects  second-hand 
books  of  an  instructive  character  for  presentation 
to  backward  villages  where  it  is  known  that 
ihey  will  be  welcome. 

Curiously  enough,    however,  the    University 


66  German  Life 

Extension  movement,  as  understood  in  England, 
has  not  had  a  very  prosperous  career  in  Germany. 
In  several  university  towns  the  movement  has 
been  established,  but  in  others  efforts  in  this 
direction  have  failed,  and,  in  general,  the  move- 
ment has  been  received  in  a  spirit  of  suspicion 
and  hostility. 

In  the  Conservative  camp  the  fear  is  enter- 
tained that  the  working  classes  would  be  forti- 
fied in  their  Socialistic  predispositions  by  the 
teaching  of  professors  themselves  tainted  by 
economic  heresy,  while  in  the  religious  domain 
a  large  section  of  the  Evangelical  laity  distrusts 
the,  to  them,  impious  criticism  which  advanced 
theological  teachers  are  apt  to  pass  upon  the 
Sacred  Writings.  Yet  the  movement  is  spread- 
ing, and  as  time  passes  much  of  the  present 
prejudice  will  be  lived  down.  More  consciously 
perhaps  than  in  England,  the  University  Exten- 
sionists  are  endeavouring  to  fulfil  a  distinct  social 
as  well  as  an  educational  purpose.  The  move- 
ment has  been  taken  up  in  the  belief  that  it  will 
to  some  extent  bridge  over  the  chasm  which  di- 
vides the  educated  from  the  uneducated  classes, 
and  so  create  between  the  two  ar.  outward  bond 
of  sympathy  which  has  hitherto  been  sadly  lack- 
ing. The  movement  is,  indeed,  a  sort  of  answer 
to  the  Socialist  agitation.  The  Social  Democratic 
party  aims  at  economic  equalisation,- -the  dis- 
possessed millions  ire  to  be  levelled  up  to  the 


The  "Arbeiter"  67 

^ossessing  thousands  by  the  levelling  down  of 
the  latter.  The  aim  of  the  friends  of  University 
Extension  is  not,  indeed,  intellectual  or  even 
educational  equality,  but  to  enable  the  less 
favoured  sections  of  society  to  share  more  liber- 
ally in  the  resources  of  culture,  which  the  let- 
tered classes  are  too  apt  to  regard  as  in  a  peculiar 
way  their  exclusive  possession.  The  import- 
ance of  such  a  social  reconciliation  as  this  aim, 
if  realised,  would  effect  is  undeniable  ;  for, 
considerable  as  are  the  differences  which  the 
possession  or  non-possession  of  material  wealth 
makes  between  men,  they  are,  in  reality,  only 
outward  and  artificial,  and  at  the  utmost  show 
themselves  in  things  which  leave  untouched  the 
true  content  and  value  of  life.  Infinitely  greater 
are  the  differences  of  education  and  culture, 
which  place  men  not  merely  in  separate  classes, 
but  in  separate  worlds  ;  and  it  is  the  belief  of 
the  University  Extensionists  of  Germany  that 
the  wider  and  more  embracing  the  republic  of 
knowledge  can  be  made,  the  more  will  social 
antipathies  be  reduced,  inasmuch  as  knowledge 
of  necessity  binds  where  wealth  as  surely  di- 
vides. The  expectation  thus  indulged  may 
seem  too  sanguine,  but  the  genuine  philanthropy 
and  fresh  enthusiasm  which  are  at  the  basis  of 
this  movement  will  doubtless  carry  its  authors 
far  on  their  mission  of  enlightenment  and  good- 
will. 


CHAPTER  IV 

RURAL  LIFE  AND  LABOUR 

WHILE  the  towns  are  given  over  to  modern 
progress,  and  all  of  bad  as  well  as  good 
repute  which  the  invidious  term  suggests,  the 
rural  districts  go  their  quiet  way  as  of  old.  It 
may  be  questioned  whether  anywhere  in  Europe 
a  healthier,  more  moral  life  prevails  than  that 
which  is  to  be  met  with  in  the  little  towns  and 
villages  of  Germany.  The  life  may  be  narrow 
and  stunted,  the  intellectual  outlook  maybe  very 
limited,  the  ideals  may  be  crude,  and  unchang- 
ing dulness  may  have  claimed  such  places  as 
its  own,  yet,  if  relative  happiness,  contentment, 
and  freedom  from  anxiety  belong  to  a  rational 
scheme  of  life,  the  countryman  and  not  the 
townsman  is  the  true  philosopher.  In  some 
districts  a  state  of  things  exists  which  might  ap- 
pear to  approach  an  ideal  social  order.  Many 
villages  still  possess  common  land  enough  to  af- 
ford to  each  head  of  a  family  free  pasturage  for 
both  cattle  and  sheep,  as  well  as  forest  which 

63 


Rural  Life  and  Labour         69 

not  only  provides  their  households  with  all  neces- 
sary fuel,  but,  thanks  to  the  right  of  selling  timber, 
reduces  local  taxation  to  a  minimum  or  liquidates 
it  altogether.  It  might  be  an  exaggeration  to  say 
"Once  a  peasant  always  a  peasant,"  for  the  rus- 
tic who  changes  country  for  town  life  often  shows 
a  singular  adaptability  to  urban  conditions  ;  but 
the  rural  spirit  is  remarkably  strong  and  tenacious, 
and,  in  spite  of  his  transplanting,  many  a  land- 
born  metropolitan  remains  in  every  essential 
characteristic  a  villager  to  the  end  of  his  days. 

I  happened  to  know  one  such,  and  I  have  sel- 
dom come  across  a  stronger  individuality.  The 
land  offering  him  little  prospect  of  meeting 
permanently  even  the  modest  needs  of  his  frugal 
life — for  his  home  was  in  one  of  the  more  back- 
ward agricultural  districts  of  East  Prussia  -  -  he 
threw  up  farming  when  nearing  middle-age  and 
migrated  to  Berlin,  where  he  in  time  set  up  a 
small  business  of  his  own.  He  had  carried  this 
on  for  a  generation  when  I  knew  him,  and  the 
one  anxiety  of  his  life  was  to  save  sufficient 
money  to  get  back  to  the  village  of  his  younger 
days.  The  calling  by  which  he  earned  his  daily 
bread,  and  a  little  more  when  times  were  good, 
had  no  interest  for  him  save  in  so  far  as  it  served 
this  end.  He  hated  towns  and  town  life,  and 
bore  with  his  urban  lot  only  because  it  offered  the 
hope  of  release  from  it  one  day.  He  was  highly 
intelligent,  yet  the  affairs  of  State  possessed 


70  German  Life 

for  him  not  a  tithe  of  the  interest  which  be 
longed  to  those  of  his  native  village.  He 
kept  himself  thoroughly  informed  of  all  that 
took  place  there  ;  he  knew  all  the  new-comers 
by  name  and  all  who  passed  away  ;  he  read  his 
Dorf-Zeitung  (Village  Gazette-  -a  popular  little 
newspaper  devoted  to  peasant  life)  with  scrupul- 
ous regularity,  and  treasured  the  past  volumes 
as  though  they  had  been  rare  first  editions  ;  in 
a  word,  he  was  heart  and  soul  a  Landmann,  and 
in  temperament  was  the  beau-ideal  of  rural  tran- 
quillity and  unsophisticated  innocence,  though 
so  large  a  part  of  his  life  had  been  passed  in  the 
capital.  When  I  knew  him  he  was  not  far  from 
the  realisation  of  his  ambition.  His  savings 
were  nearly  sufficient  for  the  support  of  his  de- 
clining years,  and  before  long  he  hoped  to  go 
back  to  the  little  village  in  East  Prussia  whence 
he  had  regretfully  come,  and,  settled  there,  he 
intended  to  begin  life  again  at  seventy. 

As  with  individuals  so  with  communities  :  the 
old  order  fights  tenaciously  against  the  new. 
There  are  yet  to  be  found,  scattered  all  over 
Germany,  towns  even  of  quite  respectable  size 
and  importance  which  yet,  in  all  outward  ap- 
pearance, have  failed  to  embrace  the  modern 
spirit,  and  seem,  in  their  old-world  sleepiness, 
simplicity,  and  primness,  like  relics  of  a  bygone 
social  order.  You  may  pass  through  the  streets 
of  such  a  town  and  never  know,  from  any 


Rural  Life  and  Labour         71 

external  evidence,  that  either  shop  or  warehouse 
ministers  to  local  needs.  Places  of  the  kind  are 
there  in  number  sufficient,  but  there  is  not  a 
sign-board,  much  less  a  display  of  goods,  to 
denote  their  whereabouts,- -nothing,  in  fact,  to 
distinguish  them  on  the  outside  from  private 
dwellings.  The  streets  are  cobbled  right  across 
from  house  to  house  ;  well-kept  gardens  grace 
the  homes  of  the  tradesman  and  labourer  alike  ; 
there  are  no  obtrusive  hoardings,  no  sky-signs, 
no  placards  of  any  kind,  save  the  decorous  an- 
nouncements of  the  administrative  or  police  au- 
thorities,--  in  a  word,  the  bill-sticker's  art, 
whether  in  its  higher  or  lower  forms,  is  entirely 
unappreciated.  In  many  parts  of  rural  Germany 
you  will  find  the  night-watchman  still  a  re- 
spected institution,  and  as  you  pass  a  sleepless 
night  you  may  hear  the  hours  cried  in  quaint 
verse,  that  recalls  the  old-fashioned  English  waits 
of  Christmas  time.  Here  is  such  a  cry,  freely 
translated  : 

"  Listen,  gentles,  while  I  tell 

The  parish  clock  has  just  struck  one, 
Mind  your  fires,  your  lights  as  well, 
That  to  the  town  no  harm  be  done." 

Injunctions  of  this  sort  date,  of  course,  from  the 
time  when  wood  and  thatch  were  the  common 
building  material,  even  for  houses  of  a  better 
class  ;  but  though  the  watchman's  nocturnal 


72  German  Life 

patrol  serves  now  no  practical  purpose,  the  en- 
ergy of  local  custom  is  so  persistent  that  the 
superfluous  functionary  survives.  Even  in  the 
largest  towns  imposing  officials  of  the  kind 
continue  still  to  descend  upon  the  streets  at  a 
certain  hour  of  the  night,  and,  clad  in  huge 
overcoats  and  distinctive  head-dress,  with  sabre 
on  side  and  massive  keys  dangling  from  the 
waist,  go  from  house  to  house,  carefully  locking 
the  outer  doors. 

Nor  has  the  old-fashioned  rural  costume  by 
any  means  disappeared.  The  traveller  who 
transects  Germany  by  one  of  the  great  trunk 
lines  passing  from  west  to  east  or  from  north  to 
south  is  pretty  sure  to  be  attracted  at  some  sta- 
tion or  other  by  quaintly  attired  countrymen  or 
countrywomen.  But  in  order  to  see  the  peasant 
costumes  at  their  best,  it  is  necessary  to  leave  the 
beaten  tracks,  and  go  inland,  to  sleepy  villages  in 
sequestered  valleys  or  away  amongst  the  hills, — 
in  the  Bavarian  Highlands,  in  the  Black  Forest,  in 
the  Spree  Forest,  or  Mecklenburg.  The  variety 
of  dress  is  remarkable,  and  happily  rural  life  still 
possesses  such  a  strong  individuality  that,  in 
spite  of  the  ridicule  which  they  frequently  meet  in 
towns,  the  older  peasants  show  little  disinclina- 
tion to  discard  their  traditional  attire  in  favour  of 
the  unromantic  and  inartistic  garments  which 
modern  fashion  devises  for  the  disfigurement  of 
the  human  form  divine.  Here  and  there,  of 


Rural  Life  and  Labour         73 

course,  extravagances  in  rural  costume  are  found, 
as  in  a  district  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden, 
where  the  pride  or  vanity  of  the  peasant  wo- 
man centres  in  the  huge  proportions  of  her 
hat,  which  is  often  so  enveloped  in  pompons  as 
to  weigh  several  pounds.  But  in  general  the 
VolkstraM  is  an  innocent  survival  of  the  prim- 
itive epoch  of  peasant  life  which  it  were  good 
policy  carefully  to  cultivate.  The  artificiality 
of  modern  civilisation  makes  everywhere  for 
uniformity,  and  the  distinctive  customs  of  the 
country  are  not  now  so  numerous  that  any  one 
— let  its  character  only  be  harmless — can  be 
wisely  surrendered  to  the  prejudice  or  intoler- 
ance of  an  unthinking  age.  Happily,  efforts  are 
being  made  in  many  parts  of  Germany  to  per- 
petuate the  costumes  of  long  ago,  by  encour- 
aging their  use  both  by  old  and  young. 

Even  where  primitive  simplicity  is  disappear- 
ing amongst  the  people,  indelible  memories  of 
its  past  influence  still  exist  in  their  midst.  In 
many  a  rural  village  in  South  Germany  may  be 
read  upon  the  timbers  of  the  houses  the  texts 
and  quaint  proverbs  in  which  a  former  age  used 
to  express  its  natural  piety  and  mother  wit. 
Sometimes  these  carved  sayings  take  a  less  ami- 
able form,  as  in  a  noli  me  tangere  verse  like  the 
following : 

"  Ich  achte  meine  Hasser 
Gleich  wie  das  Regenwasser, 


74  German  Life 

Dass  von  den  Dachern  fliesst ; 
Ob  sie  mich  gleich  neiden, 
So  miissen  sie  doch  leiden 
Dass  Gott  mein  Heifer  ist," 

which  may  be  translated  : 

4<  My  enemies  are  to  me 
Just  like  the  rain 
Which  falls  from  the  roof. 
Though  they  should  envy  me, 
They  must  at  least  learn 
That  God  is  my  helper." 

Again  : 

"  Wer  iibel  redet  von  mir  und  den  Meinen, 
Der  gehe  nach  Haus  und  betrachte  die  Seinen  ; 
Find't  er  um  denen  kein  Gebrechen, 
So  kann  er  frei  von  mir  und  den  Meinen  sprechen." 

A  free  translation  would  be  : 

"  Who  thinks  evil  of  me  and  mine, 
Let  him  go  home  and  examine  his  own  ; 
If  there  he  finds  no  fault, 
Then  he  is  at  liberty  to  criticise  us." 

The  class-consciousness  of  the  peasant — an  ex- 
cellent quality,  not  everywhere  found — finds 
utterance  in  verses  of  this  kind  : 

"  Wenn  doch  Gott  und  der  Bauer  nicht  war, 
Standen  Lander  und  Scheuern  leer, 
D'rum  danke  Gott  ein  jeder  Mann, 
Dass  Scheuer  und  Land  Gott  segnen  kann," 

or : 

"  If  God  and  the  peasant  did  not  exist 
Lands  and  barns  would  all  be  empty, 
So  let  everyone  thank  Heaven 
That  God  can  bless  both  barn  and  land." 


Rural  Life  and  Labour         75 

Superstition  and  ancient  rural  customs  keep  a 
powerful  hold  upon  the  peasantry  everywhere, 
and  many  a  quaint  observance  of  venerable 
origin  is  still  kept  up,  though  its  meaning  has 
been  forgotten.  For  example,  the  witches' 
dance  on  the  Brocken,  which  popular  credulity 
has  always  associated  with  Walpurgis  Night 
(April  3O-May  i),  has  left  a  curious  relic  in 
many  parts  of  Saxony,  and  the  most  drastic 
police  measures  have  failed  altogether  to  dis- 
courage it.  On  this  night  the  young  folk  persist 
in  discharging  firearms  wholesale,  in  carrying 
burning  besoms  and  torches  about  the  hills,  and 
in  kindling  Walpurgis  and  St.  John's  fires,  - 
the  modern  representation  of  the  raid  which 
was  made  upon  the  witches  when  they  gathered 
of  old  for  their  mad  capers.  Belief  in  witchcraft 
is  far  from  extinct  ;  and  while  a  peasant  will 
disavow  the  credulity  of  his  fathers,  he  will  not 
omit  to  hide  a  piece  of  elder  wood  in  his  stables 
and  stalls,  and  to  plant  it  before  the  doors,  as 
a  defence  against  occult  evil  influence.  The 
custom  which  obtains  in  some  parts  of  sending 
the  cattle  into  the  pasture  for  the  first  time  on 
the  ist  of  May  bears  unconscious  witness  to  the 
older  fear  of  witchcraft. 

The  celebration  of  harvest  takes  a  prominent 
place  in  the  social  amenities  of  the  country. 
Formerly  it  was  the  great  festive  event  of  the 
year,  both  for  peasant  and  labourer.  One  or 


76  German  Life 

more  days  were  entirely  given  over  to  merri- 
ment and  good  cheer,  and  the  farmer  and  his 
man  met  on  equal  terms  at  the  dance,  the 
game,  and  the  well-spread  board,  as  at  no  other 
time  in  the  year.  Of  late  years  some  of  the 
customs  of  harvest  have  fallen  into  disuse, 
partly  owing  to  the  less  friendly  relationships 
which  exist  between  the  rural  classes,  and  partly 
because  the  labourer  is  becoming  superior  to  the 
simple  pleasures  which  were  enough  for  his 
fathers,  yet  in  the  more  unsophisticated  parts  of 
the  country  they  still  continue.  In  Wurtemberg 
these  celebrations  include  ancient  customs  in 
which  the  maidservants  of  the  farms  alone  take 
part.  One  is  a  race  ;  dressed  in  short  frocks 
and  white  bodices,  but  with  naked  feet,  they 
scour  the  countryside,  and  the  winner  is  held  in 
high  honour  amongst  admiring  swains.  An- 
other is  a  pitcher-carrying  competition,  in  which 
a  large  vessel,  filled  to  the  brim  with  water, 
must  be  borne  on  the  head  for  a  certain  distance 
without  assistance  by  the  hands.  In  Alsace 
farmer  and  labourer  change  places  for  the  day. 
The  latter  is  absolved  from  service  of  every  kind, 
and  the  farmer  both  waits  on  his  men  and  does 
all  the  necessary  farm  work.  The  day  is  given 
over  to  feasting  and  sports,  and  ends  with  a 
long  night  of  dancing.  Dancing  is,  in  fact,  the 
most  popular  of  country  amusements,  and  is 
carried  on  to  such  an  extent  —  as  a  rule  in  the 


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Rural  Life  and  Labour         77 

village  inn --as  to  have  become  a  source  of 
grave  anxiety  to  those  who  are  concerned  for 
village  morality. 

The  old  marriage  customs,  too,  are  still  popu- 
lar. The  bridal  race,  which  once  was  common 
to  rural  England,  is  observed  in  many  parts  of 
Germany,  doubtless  perpetuating  the  ancient 
rule  which  required  that  a  maid  should  be  car- 
ried off  on  horseback.  In  Prussia  the  custom 
was  varied,  in  that  the  race  followed  the  day 
of  marriage.  Husband  and  wife  raced  to  a 
given  place,  after  which  the  bridal-wreath  was 
taken  from  the  wife's  head  and  a  coiffure  of  the 
kind  common  to  her  locality  was  placed  thereon 
instead, --in  unchivalrous  reminder  that  the  time 
of  poetry  was  over  and  the  time  of  prose  had 
begun.  Throughout  Germany  the  eve  before 
marriage  is  devoted  to  festivities  in  which  the 
relatives  and  the  near  friends  of  the  nuptial  pair 
take  part,  but  the  name  of  the  festival,  Polter- 
abend,  denotes  its  descent  from  a  custom  of  a 
very  different  kind.  Polter  means  noise  (being 
really  the  equivalent  of  the  colloquial  English 
"row"),  and  the  explanation  of  the  term  is 
curious  but  very  human.  On  the  day  before 
a  marriage  it  was  usual  for  kind  busybodies 
to  canvass  the  virtues  and  failings  of  the  bride 
and  bridegroom.  Did  the  virtues  clearly  pre- 
ponderate, they  signified  their  good-will  by  visit- 
ing the  nuptial  house  and  by  means  of  hideous 


78  German  Life 

noises  scaring  away  the  evil  spirits  which  were 
supposed  to  lurk  there.  The  windows  were 
carefully  locked  and  the  door  alone  left  open, 
for  by  this  lawful  way  only  the  uncanny  guests 
were  required  to  depart.  From  attic  to  cellar 
water  was  sprinkled  in  every  corner  of  the 
house,  all  the  walls  were  beaten  with  sticks, 
and  ridiculous  imprecations  were  used  where- 
with to  terrorise  the  unhappy  ghosts.  If  the 
past  careers  of  the  bridal  pair  gave  room  for 
legitimate  cavil,  this  found  expression  in  bois- 
terous demonstrations  before  the  houses  of  both, 
something  after  the  manner  of  the  "  stang- 
riding  "  which  is  still  common  to  the  Yorkshire 
dales.  In  rural  Germany  the  original  associations 
of  Polter-abend  are  still  in  part  retained  in  all  their 
noisiness,  but  in  the  towns  the  evening  is  devoted 
to  social  intercourse,  in  which  music,  theatricals, 
games,  and  innocent  gossip  take  the  chief  place. 
On  the  land,  where  time  is  no  consideration 
and  festivities  of  the  kind  happen  too  seldom  to 
be  taken  lightly,  the  wedding  parties  are  often 
spread  over  several  days,  and  everybody  has  a 
share  in  turn.  The  following  food  was  actually 
consumed  not  long  ago  during  the  marriage 
festivities  of  a  well-to-do  farmer  on  the  Weser  : 
— one  fat  cow,  seven  pigs,  seventeen  calves, 
two  hundred  and  twenty  hens,  two  hundred 
loaves  and  cakes,  three  hundred  and  seventy 
gallons  of  beer,  and  a  large  quantity  of  spirit 


Rural  Life  and  Labour         79 

and  wine.  Amongst  the  Black  Forest  peasantry 
exists  still  a  peculiar  plan  (called  Leibgeding  or 
Libding)  of  transferring  a  holding  from  father 
to  son.  When  an  old  peasant  is  no  longer 
capable  of  heavy  work,  or  wishes  to  make  way 
for  a  son  or  daughter  desiring  to  marry,  he  gives 
up  his  farm  to  his  heir  and  successor  in  con- 
sideration of  an  agreement  that  he  and  his  wife 
shall  have  a  place  in  the  house  and  food  enough 
for  the  rest  of  their  days.  This  arrangement  is 
put  on  paper,  and  legally  attested,  for  the  Black 
Forest  peasant  is  long-headed,  and  never  believes 
what  he  cannot  see. 

On  the  economic  side,  rural  life  in  Germany 
presents  to-day  many  difficult  problems  with 
whose  solution  the  prosperity  of  agriculture  is 
very  closely  bound  up.  There,  as  in  England, 
the  constant  decrease  of  the  rural  population 
has  created  a  dearth  of  labour,  which  of  late 
years  has  threatened  to  make  successful  farming 
impossible.  How  far  this  displacement  of 
population  has  gone  may  be  judged  from  the 
fact  that  between  the  years  1871  and  1895  the 
rural  population  of  the  Empire,  as  officially  so 
defined,  had  decreased  by  nearly  a  million, 
though  the  total  population  increased  to  the  ex- 
tent often  and  a  half  millions  during  that  period. 
In  the  northern  parts  of  the  Empire,  holdings 
have  as  a  result  been  amalgamated  on  a  large 
scale,  and  the  wages  which  farmers  have  nowa- 


8o  German  Life 

days  to  pay — though  not  so  high  as  those  ruling 
in  the  more  prosperous  parts  of  England — are  a 
source  of  growing  perplexity. 

At  the  best  the  financial  position  of  the  landed 
classes  is  no  brilliant  one.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  large  estates  in  Prussia  are  on  an  average 
mortgaged  to  the  extent  of  seventy  per  cent,  of 
their  market  value,  though  the  percentage  is 
far  higher  in  the  provinces  of  East  Prussia  and 
Pomerania.  The  peasant  properties  are  less  en- 
cumbered, though  these,  too,  are  mortgaged  to 
the  average  amount  of  forty  per  cent.  But  dear 
labour,  and  a  serious  lack  of  that,  with  diminish- 
ing capital  and  keen  foreign  competition  in  corn, 
have  created  an  agricultural  crisis  which  promises 
to  produce  very  disastrous  results. 

The  causes  which  have  contributed  to  the 
migration  of  population  to  the  towns  are  in  part 
identical  with  those  which  have  operated  in 
other  lands.  Briefly,  the  rural  labourer  is  dis- 
satisfied with  the  life,  labour,  and  earnings  which 
the  country  offers,  and  he  both  seeks  and  finds 
better  conditions  and  better  prospects  in  the  large 
industrial  centres.  It  has  been  found  that  mili- 
tary service  has  the  effect  of  decreasing  the 
amount  of  labour  which  would  normally  be 
available  for  agricultural  pursuits.  The  country 
recruit  performs  his  two  years  of  service  in 
town,  and  it  happens  not  seldom  that  the  attrac- 
tions of  urban  life  acquire  so  strong  a  hold  upon 


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Rural  Life  and  Labour         81 

him  that  he  is  unwilling,  at  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  military  training,  to  return  to  the  quiet 
and  monotony  of  rural  life. 

On  the  land  the  labourer's  lot  is  seldom  an  en- 
viable one,  and  in  the  more  backward  parts  of 
the  country  it  is  excessively  hard,  and  often  in- 
tolerable. In  the  main,  the  modes  of  agricultural 
employment  prevalent  in  North  Germany  may 
be  classed  under  three  systems.  The  freest  and 
most  modern  is  the  hired-labour  system  of  West- 
phalia, which  approximates  most  closely  to  the 
English  system.  The  system  peculiar  to  Saxony 
is  that  of  the  peasant-labourer,  who,  besides 
working  for  a  large  farmer,  cultivates  land  of 
his  own.  Finally,  in  the  provinces  east  of  the 
Elbe,  where  the  labourers  are  largely  Poles,  the 
manorial  system  widely  prevails,  and  here  such 
economic  freedom  as  is  enjoyed  is  theoretical 
rather  than  real. 

The  German  agricultural  labourer  has  hitherto 
been  untouched  by  the  spirit  of  combination 
which  has  been  popularised  among  industrial 
labourers,  and  the  result  is  not  to  his  advantage. 
Complaints  of  overwork,  low  wages,  and  entire 
lack  of  leisure  are  common,  and  so  far  as  these 
complaints  are  justified  the  farmers  have  only 
themselves  to  blame  for  the  dearth  of  labour 
which  they  lament  ;  for  not  only  are  they  un- 
willing to  pay  wages  at  all  approximating  those 
which  their  men  might  obtain  in  the  adjacent 

6 


82  German  Life 

towns,  but  they  have  in  many  districts  cut  the 
ground  beneath  their  own  feet  by  importing  cheap 
and  inferior  Polish  labour,  which  has  been  re- 
garded by  the  native  labourer  as  a  notice  to  quit, 
which  notice  has  been  acted  upon  accordingly. 
At  the  best,  the  wages  paid  in  the  country  are 
poor,  for  25.  and  25.  6d.  a  day  is  a  high  rate,  and 
the  average  would  be  nearer  15.  6d.  fora  man 
and  15.  for  his  wife,  when  all  available  time  is 
devoted  to  the  work  of  the  farm.  Polish  labour- 
ers can  be  had  at  any  time  and  in  any  number  at 
the  rate  of  15.  to  15.  6d.  per  day,  with  potatoes 
to  eat  and  sacking  to  sleep  on  thrown  in,  but 
experience  proves  that  cheap  labour  of  the  kind 
is  dear  in  the  end.  There  are  districts  where 
farm  labourers  are  kept  in  the  field  from  earliest 
daylight  until  late  at  night  in  return  for  a  meagre 
6d.  per  day  with  food. 

Then  the  relationship  between  the  farmer  and 
his  hinds  is  also  far  from  being  as  sympathetic  as 
in  earlier  days,  and  the  tendency,  as  in  England, 
is  more  and  more  for  the  farmer  to  cut  himself 
off  from  his  dependants.  The  effect  is  seen  in 
many  ways.  Work  is  harder,  and  there  is  less 
respite  from  its  pressure  than  formerly.  Holi- 
days would  seem  to  be  going  out  of  fashion.  It 
used  to  be  a  very  customary  thing  for  a  small 
agricultural  town  to  have  at  least  its  four  mar- 
kets in  the  year,  its  church  dedication  day,  holi- 
days of  three  days  each  at  Christmas,  Easter,  and 


Rural  Life  and  Labour         83 

Whitsuntide,    with   two    prayer   and    penance 
days,  not  to  speak  of  casual  days  and  holy  days 

-say  three  weeks  in  the  year  in  all,-  -but  nowa- 
days people  are  too  serious  to  waste  so  much 
time,  and  the  labourer  does  not  like  the  change, 
which  keeps  him  more  closely  at  the  wheel. 
This  aspect  of  the  question,  however,  does  not 
merely  apply  to  the  smaller  farmers.  There  is  a 
general  lament  in  these  days  that  rural  labour 
fails  to  receive  the  recognition  and  respect  which 
it  both  desires  and  deserves.  The  vocabulary  of 
the  German  manufacturer  does  not  contain  the 
English  abomination  "hands,"  a  word  now  so 
thoroughly  naturalised  that  factory  operatives  in 
the  north  of  England  use  it  when  speaking  of 
themselves  ;  yet  the  term  Gesinde,  in  which  the 
landed  proprietor  and  gentleman  farmer  of  Ger- 
many group  their  employes  or  "people  "  (Leute), 
indicates  an  undesirable  spirit  of  disparagement. 
There  is  too  much  truth  in  the  recently  published 
lament  of  a  German  rural  pastor,  that  "the  feel- 
ing that  they  are,  because  of  their  social  condition, 
regarded  and  treated  with  contempt  by  those 
from  whom  they  earn  their  daily  bread  weighs 
like  an  Alp  upon  the  rural  labouring  population." 

You  should  not  fear  me,  you  should  love  me," 
Frederick  the  Great  is  said  to  have  told  two  Jews 
whom  he  was  soundly  thrashing.  But  flagella- 
tion, however  well  meant,  is  a  form  of  benevo- 
lence whose  success  is  at  best  doubtful.  If  the 


84  German  Life 

German  landed  proprietors  desire  to  win  the 
genuine  attachment  of  their  labourers,  they  will 
have  to  banish  all  the  thoughts  of  the  old  days  of 
serfdom  which  linger  in  the  minds  of  many  of 
their  number. 

Even  when  rural  labourers  are  best  treated 
there  is  a  secret  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
work-givers  to  regard  them  as  in  a  sense  morally 
bound  to  remain  to  the  end  of  life  in  the  manor 
or  village  where  they  were  born,  and  not  a  few 
landowning  deputies,  who  are  returned  to  the 
Imperial  and  State  Diets  year  after  year,  would 
willingly  vote  for  a  measure  that  would  make 
that  imaginary  obligation  a  legal  one.  Such  as- 
pirations are,  of  course,  visionary,  yet  their  very 
existence  is  an  evil.  So  firmly  convinced  are 
the  landed  classes  that  the  tillers  of  the  soil  abso- 
lutely exist  for  them,  and  that  a  man  who  is 
born  an  agricultural  labourer  should  in  duty  re- 
main such  and  train  his  sons  and  daughters  to 
follow  in  his  footsteps,  that  the  newspapers 
which  represent  agrarian  interests  are  continually 
calling  upon  the  Governments  to  convert  the 
rural  schools  into  institutions  for  the  production 
of  tractable  peasants.  "Let  geography,  draw- 
ing, and  science  go,"  said  the  most  important  of 
these  journals  recently,  "and  let  the  time  thus 
saved  be  devoted  to  religious  instruction,  so  that 
the  children  may  be  trained  in  obedience,  indus- 
try, and  piety,  and  thus  make  good  labourers." 


Rural  Life  and  Labour         85 

It  is  evident  that  men  who  hold  such  views  have 
much  to  learn,  and  more  to  unlearn.  In  the 
remoter  agricultural  districts,  where  large  manor- 
ial estates  are  the  rule,  something  like  the  old 
feudal  relationship  does,  indeed,  prevail,  so  far 
as  modern  legislative  restrictions  have  not 
abolished  it.  Here  is  a  sample  of  the  sort  of 
agreement  which  many  a  patriarchal  landowner 
makes  with  a  labourer  and  his  family,  for  he 
engages  them  together,- -man,  wife,  and  child- 
ren, so  far  as  the  latter  are  able  to  work  : 

"The  lord  of  the  manor  offers  his  labourer  a 
dwelling,  with  sixty  square  roods  of  garden- 
ground  and  fifty  square  roods  of  potato-ground, 
f°r  £>3  15S-  a  year,  paid  weekly  by  deductions 
from  wages  of  is.  6d.  per  week,  and  will  pay 
his  railway  fare,  provided  that  he  and  the  mem- 
bers of  his  family  remain  in  service  for  at  least 
two  years.  He  may  not,  however,  keep  either 
cow  or  goat  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  lord 
of  the  manor  will  sell  him  new  milk  at  id.  per 
litre  (a  pint  and  three-quarters),  and  skimmed 
milk  at  \d.  He  may,  however,  keep  a  pig  and  a 
few  hens,  but  no  dogs,  and  bed  straw  and  litter  in 
reasonable  quantity  will  be  provided  free.  The 
labourer  must  pay  for  his  own  food  of  all  kinds, 
also  for  doctor  and  apothecary,  but  the  services 
of  a  midwife  will  be  provided  free.  Fuel  will 
be  conveyed  for  him  within  a  radius  of  five  miles 
at  the  rate  of  35.  per  load.  Seed  potatoes  will 


86  German  Life 

also  be  supplied  at  the  rate  of  6d.  per  square 
rood.  The  labourer  must  make  all  repairs  to 
the  house  of  which  he  is  capable,  materials  be- 
ing supplied  to  him  for  the  purpose.  The  lord 
of  the  manor,  or  his  agent,  reserves  the  right 
to  visit  and  inspect  the  labourer's  dwelling  at  all 
times. 

"  The  labourer  will  bind  himself,  with  the  rest 
of  the  members  of  his  family  who  live  on  the 
estate,  to  work  only  for  the  lord  of  the  manor. 
For  this  work  he  will  receive  payment  as  follows: 
winter  half  year,  is.  6d.  per  day;  summer  half 
year,  is.  9^.  per  day,  with  6d.  a  day  extra  dur- 
ing six  weeks  of  harvest.  Young  men  (his  sons) 
over  twenty  years  of  age  will  receive  9^.  per  day 
in  winter  and  is.  in  summer,  but  no  addition 
during  harvest." 

Under  such  a  contract,  the  money  income  of 
husband  and  wife,  even  assuming  work  and 
wages  to  be  unintermittent  throughout  the  whole 
year,  could  hardly  be  called  brilliant  for  the  be- 
ginning of  the  twentieth  century.  Even  sup- 
posing that  all  Sundays  and  holidays  were  paid 
for,  the  man  would  only  earn  £}o  I2s.  and  his 
wife  £\*)  1 8s.,  together  ^46  IDS. 

But  the  system  of  payment  in  kind  is  gradually 
breaking  down.  Even  the  Polish  labourers,  who 
are  at  the  lowest  stage  of  social  development, 
clamour  more  and  more  for  money  wages,  and 
will  accept  payment — provided  only  it  be  in  coin 


Rural  Life  and  Labour         87 

—  so  low  as  to  be  incapable  of  supporting  Ger- 
man labourers  in  a  decent  standard  of  life.  In 
the  Polish  parts  of  Prussia  the  state  of  things  pre- 
vailing leaves  much  to  be  desired.  There  Polish 
men  and  woman  are  engaged  indiscriminately 
on  the  work  of  the  large  farms,  and  the  general 
conditions  as  to  employment  and  discipline  are 
more  suggestive  of  slave  plantations  than  of  a 
modern  free  labour  relationship.  Rigorous  em- 
ployers do  not  hesitate  to  rule  literally  with  the 
rod  and  whip,  and  an  utterly  brutal  and  brutalis- 
ing  regime  is  by  no  means  uncommon.  A  lead- 
ing Berlin  newspaper  recorded  this  incident 
several  years  ago  : 

"  Upon  a  manorial  estate  in  West  Prussia 
some  forty  Polish  women  are  employed.  These 
people  could  no  longer  bear  their  terrible  ill- 
usage,  for  they  were  treated  like  cattle,  and  they 
resolved  to  seek  release  in  flight,  which  they  did 
by  taking  the  night  train  to  Berlin.  No  sooner, 
however,  was  their  flight,  discovered  on  the  es- 
tate than  word  of  it  was  sent  to  the  police  there, 
with  the  result  that  two  police  waggons  were  in 
waiting  for  the  party  at  the  station  on  their 
arrival,  and  in  these  they  were  placed  and  con- 
veyed to  prison.  The  scene  was  heart-breaking 
as  they  were  arrested,  for  the  women  did  not 
understand  a  word  of  German,  and  no  interpreter 
was  present  to  help  them.  They  showed  the 
results  of  ill-usage  on  their  bodies,  which  were 


88  German  Life 

bruised  black  and  blue  by  reason  of  the  heavy 
blows  administered  to  them  with  sticks  while  at 
work." 

The  incident  admits  of  no  doubt.  I  have  my- 
self heard  from  friends  who  have  lived  in  the 
Polish  districts  similar  stories  of  the  drastic  dis- 
cipline which  prevails  on  some  of  the  large  es- 
tates there.  On  the  other  hand,  the  type  of 
Pole  who  is  employed  in  farm  labour  is  extremely 
low.  Drunkenness,  theft,  idleness,  and  the 
most  degrading  forms  of  immorality  are  lament- 
ably common,  and  the  average  labourer  will 
only  work  when  he  is  compelled.  Comparisons 
made  in  certain  parts  of  the  eastern  provinces 
of  Prussia,  where  German,  Polish,  and  Russian 
labourers  work  together,  have  proved  the  ratio 
of  capability  and  of  wages  to  be  about  12  16:3. 
How  far  these  unhappy  people,  members  of  a 
race  which  has  known  better  days,  and  yet  in- 
dulges high  ambitions,  are  the  victims  of  their 
conditions — have,  in  fact,  been  made  what  they 
are  by  circumstances --is  a  question  with  which 
I  am  not  competent  to  deal. 

It  is  the  Pole  who  comes  to  the  front  again 
in  connexion  with  a  labour  movement  which  is 
known  as  Sachsen ganger  ei,-  -  literally,  "going 
to  Saxony,"  —a  vast  annual  migration  of  Polish 
labourers  which  takes  place  in  harvest  time. 
The  institution  has  of  late  years  developed  into 
a  "social  problem,"  owing  to  the  serious 


Rural  Life  and  Labour         89 

displacement  of  native  labour  and  the  hunger- 
wages  the  supplanters  are  contented  to  receive. 
The  large  landowners  like  the  arrangement  well 
enough,  though  it  is  not  without  objectionable 
features,  for  the  Polish  "  Saxony-goers  "  (they 
are  of  both  sexes)  lead  the  most  miserable  of 
existences.  Their  wages  are  of  the  smallest, 
their  work  heavy  and  exhausting,  while  of  their 
scanty  earnings  the  employment  agents  are  not 
slow  to  claim  an  extortionate  share.  These 
wretched  people  are  housed  or  herded  in  mean 
quarters, —  sheds,  barns,  wooden  structures  of 
any  handy  kind,- -and  they  are  regarded  as  mere 
machines,  out  of  which  as  much  work  as  pos- 
sible has  to  be  got  during  the  shortest  time 
for  the  least  possible  pay. 

All  sorts  of  measures  have  been  proposed  of 
late  years  for  checking  the  migration  of  popula- 
tion to  the  towns.  There  is  a  large  parliament- 
ary party  which  would  require  any  rural  resident 
wishful  to  leave  his  native  place  to  furnish  proof 
that  he  is  able  to  set  up  a  household  for  him- 
self and  family  in  his  contemplated  place  of 
settlement,  with  the  proviso  that  he  should  be 
liable  to  be  sent  back  to  his  old  home  directly 
he  ceased  to  be  an  independent  citizen.  But 
Germany,  with  characteristic  common-sense,  is 
attempting  to  deal  with  this  problem  by  prac- 
tical methods,  instead  of  talking  about  impossi- 
ble ones  until  irreparable  mischief  has  been  done. 


90  German  Life 

Such  are  the  efforts  which  are  being  made  in 
connexion  with  the  "  Home  Colonisation ' 
(Innere  Colonisation)  movement.  Legislative 
provision  now  exists  in  Prussia  whereby  small 
holdings,  suitable  for  labourers,  can  be  acquired 
by  the  aid  of  State  loans  advanced  on  reasonable 
terms,  both  as  to  interest  and  repayment  of 
principal  ;  and  already  a  good  work  has  been 
done  in  this  way. 

Much  is  also  being  dene  to  ameliorate  the 
conditions  of  rural  life  by  the  provision  of 
better  dwellings  for  the  labouring  class,- -a 
reform  which  has  for  long  years  been  overdue. 
A  large  number  of  building  societies,  established 
on  either  a  mutual  or  a  benevolent  basis,  advance 
money  for  this  purpose,  and  build  houses,  and 
either  let  or  sell  them,  according  to  the  tenant's 
desire.  This  movement  has  also  been  greatly 
facilitated  by  the  permission  which  has  been 
given  to  employ,  in  its  aid,  a  certain  part  of 
the  vast  invested  funds  of  the  State  Industrial 
Insurance  Corporations.  These  funds  now 
amount  to  some  ^40,000,000,  and  are  yearly 
increasing  ;  how  to  employ  them  advantage- 
ously had  long  been  a  perplexing  problem  ;  and 
this  outlet  for  investment  has  proved  not  less 
beneficial  to  the  insurance  authorities  themselves 
than  to  the  object  assisted.  Furthermore,  care 
is  being  taken  more  than  ever  to  bring  the 
aid  of  technical  instruction  to  bear  upon  rural 


Rural  Life  and  Labour         91 

industry,  and  the  value  of  the  school-garden,  as 
a  means  of  preparing  rural  children  for  an  agri- 
cultural life,  has  for  years  been  recognised.  The 
press  of  population  from  country  to  town  will 
not  be  altogether  stayed,  but  the  many  and 
various  efforts  which  are  being  made  to  counter- 
act it  may  at  least  prevent  the  evil  from  getting 
entirely  out  of  hand.  Such  a  result  will  be  to 
the  untold  advantage  of  the  whole  country, 
for  the  agrarian  population  not  only  constitutes 
the  nation's  backbone  physically,  but  it  is  also 
a  bulwark  of  social  order  ;  and,  in  the  present 
condition  of  Germany,  the  presence  of  this 
great  reserve  of  moral  strength  and  stability  is 
a  national  blessing. 


CHAPTER  V 

MILITARY  SERVICE 

IN  Germany  the  army  is  the  nation  in  a  literal 
sense.  According  to  the  letter  of  the  law, 
every  male  subject  is  liable  to  be  called  on  to 
serve  when  he  has  completed  his  seventeenth 
year,  and  the  liability  continues  to  the  end  of  his 
forty-fifth  year.  The  term  of  service  in  the 
standing  army  is  seven  years,  and  it  usually  be- 
gins with  the  twenty-first  year.  Two  years 
(instead  of  three,  as  formerly)  are  now  passed 
with  the  colours,  after  which  the  time-expired 
soldier  passes  by  successive  stages  into  the  first 
reserve,  the  Landwehr,  and  finally  into  the  Land- 
sturm.  This  last  is  the  army  of  emergency, 
comprising  all  male  citizens  between  the  ages  of 
seventeen  and  forty-five  who  do  not  belong  to 
the  army  or  navy,  and  it  is  only  intended  to  be 
called  up  in  the  event  of  the  regular  forces  prov- 
ing insufficient  for  home  defence.  Though  the 
obligation  to  serve  his  country  under  arms  ap- 
plies to  every  able-bodied  German  save  the 

92 


Military  Service  93 

members  of  reigning  and  mediatised  houses — 
who,  nevertheless,  are  seldom  slow  to  act  upon 
the  principle  of  noblesse  oblige — the  law  is  ap- 
plied with  all  possible  leniency.  Physical  weak- 
ness, even  of  a  slight  character,  exempts,  of 
necessity  ;  but  the  sole  bread-winners  of  fami- 
lies, theological  students,  and  even  the  sons  of 
farmers,  tradespeople,  and  others  who  cannot 
easily  be  spared  from  home,  are  also  excused. 
Further  latitude  is  allowed  by  the  enrolment  of 
what  are  known  as  "  one-year  volunteers,"  who 
enjoy  a  curtailed  service  in  consideration  of  their 
satisfying  certain  high  educational  requirements, 
and  undertaking  to  clothe,  maintain,  and  house 
themselves  during  their  year  with  the  colours 
without  cost  to  the  State. 

The  oppressive  burden  which  is  imposed  upon 
Germany  by  its  huge  military  system  would  ap- 
pear to  possess  perennial  interest  for  English 
moralists  of  a  certain  class.  The  curious  thing 
is  that  a  good  deal  more  is  said  and  written, 
preached  and  pamphleteered,  on  the  subject  in 
England  than  in  the  country  concerned, — one 
illustration  among  many  of  her  national  habit  of 
tendering  advice  on  other  people's  affairs  with- 
out invitation,  need,  or  knowledge.  The  fact  is 
that  the  military  and  naval  budgets  of  the  German 
Empire  fall  far  below  those  of  England.  The 
former  (taking  the  highest  published  estimate) 
reached  a  total  of  ^39,624,964  for  the  year 


94  German  Life 

1898-99,  made  up  of  ^£33, 431, 128  for  the  army, 
and  ^6,193,836  for  the  navy.  The  English  de- 
fensive budgets  amounted  for  the  same  financial 
year  to  ^22,359,599  for  the  army,  and  £24,- 
733,822  for  the  navy,  a  total  of  ^47,093,421,  or 
,£7,478,464  more  than  the  total  for  the  Ger- 
man Empire  with  nearly  fifteen  millions  more 
population. 

It  may  be  said  that,  although  the  direct  cost  to 
the  national  treasury  of  the  army  and  navy  is  far 
greater  per  head  in  England  than  in  Germany, 
the  difference  is  more  than  made  up  by  the  fact 
that  Germany  maintains  a  standing  army  at  least 
twice  larger  than  the  English  army  and  navy 
together,  insomuch  as  over  half  a  million  men 
are  continuously  withdrawn  from  private  life  and 
employments,  and  kept  in  barracks.  That  is 
quite  true  ;  and  it  is  here,  of  course,  that  the 
economic  disadvantage  of  Germany's  system  of 
universal  service  shows  itself.  What  the  loss 
thus  caused  means  can  only  be  conjectured, 
yet,  though  real  enough,  it  is  impossible  that  it 
can  be  so  obstructive  to  industrial  progress  and 
so  destructive  to  national  wealth  as  it  is  generally 
represented.  If  the  purely  commercial  argu- 
ment against  universal  military  service  held 
water,  there  would  not  be  so  much  justification 
for  the  complaint,  nowadays  so  common,  of 
German  competition  in  the  home  and  world 
markets.  Besides,  if  this  argument  were  con- 


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Military  Service  95 

elusive,  and  the  unmixed  economic  curse  it 
is  supposed  to  be  out  of  Germany,  the  last 
thing  that  England  ought  to  desire  is  that 
Germany  should  reduce  its  armaments,  and 
leave  its  young  men  to  pursue  their  natural 
course  undisturbed  in  the  factories  and  on  the 
land. 

The  fact  is  that  the  system  of  universal  service 
has  grown  into  the  very  life  of  the  nation.  That 
it  does  not  impede  industry  to  the  extent  that 
might  be  supposed  is  due  to  its  priority  to  the 
economic  development  of  the  country  as  we 
know  it.  Hence,  industry  has  merely  had  to 
accommodate  itself  to  a  condition  of  things 
which  existed  long  before  it  laid  claim  to  the 
energies  of  the  people.  Were  a  country  like 
England  to  go  over  to  universal  service,  its  social 
and  industrial  life  would  have  to  be  remodelled 
in  every  direction,  and  the  consequences  would 
be  disturbing  beyond  estimation.  Germany  has 
been  spared  any  revolution  of  the  kind,  because 
it  imposed  upon  itself  this  yoke  at  a  time  when 
it  entailed  no  great  hardship,  and  habit  and  time 
have  now  entirely  accustomed  the  bearers  to 
the  burden.  Moreover,  compensating  circum- 
stances of  very  real  value  exist.  The  thousands 
of  young  Germans  who  are  every  year  taken 
from  industry  and  trade  are  sent  back  better, 
more  efficient,  more  intelligent  citizens  in  every 
way  than  they  were  before.  Moreover,  the} 


96  German  Life 

are  not  thrown  indiscriminately  upon  the  mar- 
ket, but  to  a  large  extent  go  back  to  their  old 
positions.  In  the  case  of  non-commissioned 
officers,  the  State  itself  undertakes  to  provide 
employment  on  the  completion  of  twelve  years 
of  honourable  service,  and  the  postal,  railway, 
police,  customs,  and  inland-revenue  departments 
furnish  all  the  posts  that  are  necessary.  The 
personal  advantages,  both  physical  and  moral, 
of  military  service  are  certainly  great.  On  this 
subject  1  cannot  do  better  than  repeat  what  I 
wrote  some  years  ago.  In  the  army  a  young 
man  is  put  to  a  rigorous  test  of  endurance,  and 
if  he  passes  through  it  successfully,  his  physique 
is  established  for  life.  The  comment  is  often 
made  that  the  strong  are  strengthened  and  the 
weak  weakened  by  this  ordeal.  But  this  is 
an  unfair  way  of  putting  the  matter.  It  is  true 
that  the  robust  man  as  a  rule  receives  only  bene- 
fit ;  but  it  far  oftener  happens  that  weak  con- 
stitutions are  built  up  than  pulled  down  at  the 
end  of  the  one  or  two  years'  service.  For  the 
physically  incapable  are  not  taken  into  the  army 
at  all,  and  so  abundant  is  the  supply  of  recruits 
yearly  that  the  authorities  can  afford  to  interpret 
the  conditions  of  exemption  liberally.  This 
argument  of  physical  benefit  would,  of  course, 
be  far  less  applicable  to  a  country  like  England, 
whose  youths  make  up  for  the  absence  of 
military  training  by  manly  outdoor  exercises 


Military  Service  97 

unknown  on  the  Continent,  but  in  Germany  it  is 
of  untold  value. 

The  effect  upon  rural  labourers  of  their  two 
years  in  the  army  is  marvellous.  Look  on  the 
two  pictures.  It  is  recruiting  time,  and  every 
day  brings  fresh  train-loads  of  countrymen  to 
town.  In  long  file  they  walk  from  the  station 
to  the  barracks.  And  how  they  walk  !  As 
only  the  field  labourer  can, — bowed  and  bent, 
with  heavy,  awkward,  slouching  gait,  the  very 
picture  of  ungracefulness.  The  accompanying 
subaltern  does  not  look  over-proud  of  his 
charges,  but  he  is  comforting  himself  with  the 
thought  that  he  will  soon  "change  all  that." 
They  are  neatly  dressed,  though,  these  village 
lads,  for  this  is  a  notable  day  that  brings  them  to 
the  great  city,  with  its  unknown  life.  Some  dan- 
gle ribbons  from  their  buttonholes,  some  wear 
flowers  fresh  from  the  meadow,  some  have 
decked  their  hats  with  oak  leaves,  just  to  show 
that  they  are  not  ashamed  of  their  country 
origin.  Their  baggage  is  small  :  a  red  pocket- 
handkerchief,  slung  over  the  shoulder,  carries 
all  that  a  man  needs  to  bring  with  him,  for  his 
future  dress,  from  helmet  to  socks  and  shoes, 
is  ready  for  him  in  the  barracks.  For  the  most 
part  they  are  a  happy  lot,  though  here  and  there 
one  may  see  a  face  that  says  as  plainly  as  words 
could  do  that  the  pangs  of  homesickness  are 
already  gnawing  at  the  heart.  Yet  it  is  their 


German  Life 


undisciplined  rawness  that  most  strikes  the 
townsman,  accustomed  as  he  is  every  day  to 
watch  the  orderly  march  past  of  garrison  troops. 
Six  months  later  the  same  peasants  pass  along 
the  same  streets,  now  wearing  the  Emperor's 
uniform.  But  how  different  the  carriage  !  Now 
they  march  ;  before  they  waddled.  To  the  clear 
note  of  the  trumpet  and  the  brisk  beat  of  the 
drum,  the  regiment  treads  with  firm,  united, 
and  graceful  step.  Line  after  line  passes,  as 
straight  in  its  progress  as  though  a  steel  rod  ran 
through  it.  It  is  veritable  music  of  movement, 
and  one  would  not  believe,  unless  he  knew  it, 
that  scattered  amongst  this  band  of  troops  are 
the  rude,  uncultured,  unfashioned  countrymen 
who  not  long  ago  shambled  along  in  supreme 
disorder. 

The  moral  aspect  of  military  service  is  two- 
sided,  though  the  preponderant  effect  is  unques- 
tionably good.  The  discipline  of  the  barracks 
and  the  drill-ground  is  undergone  in  the  critical 
time  in  a  young  man's  life  when  he  decides, 
by  habits  no  less  than  deliberate  option,  whether 
his  future  is  to  be  characterised  by  self-control, 
by  regard  for  order  and  obedience,  and  by  a 
lawful  instead  of  a  lawless  liberty.  In  passing 
through  this  crisis  he  is  greatly  helped  by  tem- 
porary life  in  the  army.  Its  restraint,  good  in 
itself,  is  doubly  valuable  to  him.  He  may  chafe 
under  it,  but  the  very  chafing  is  part  of  a 


Military  Service  99 

wholesome,  stimulating  discipline,  whose  effects 
extend  beyond  the  period  of  his  service.  Many 
a  youth  is  saved  from  ruin  —  made  a  man- 
by  his  term  of  military  experience.  While  the 
Emperor's  uniform  is  upon  him,  he  must  simply 
obey,  be  he  count  or  clown,  heir  to  opulence  or 
heir  to  poverty, — for  both  serve  side  by  side.  Let 
his  character  be  as  stubborn  and  uncontrolled  as 
it  may  when  he  enters  the  ranks,  he  nevertheless 
finds  out  before  an  hour  has  gone  that  in  the 
barracks  only  one  will  can  exist.  It  may  be  the 
will  of  colonel,  or  captain,  or  lieutenant,  or  even 
of  an  uneducated,  loud-mouthed  sergeant,  but 
it  can  never  be  his.  The  unaccustomed  restraint 
is  bound  to  be  salutary.  It  teaches  self-control, 
submission,  patience  ;  while  those  who  need  the 
lesson  learn  also  how  to  be  orderly  and  scrupul- 
ously cleanly.  It  may  be  said  that  discipline  is 
a  good  thing  in  its  way,  but  we  can  have  too 
much  of  it,  and  that  an  excess  militates  against 
the  formation  of  a  free,  independent,  and  sturdy 
character.  This  objection  is  valid  in  the  abstract, 
but  the  danger  of  modern  times,  when  rebellion 
against  authority  is  observable  in  so  many  direc- 
tions, is  less  the  restriction  of  liberty  than  the 
extension  of  licence,  and  the  introduction  of 
military  subordination  would,  to-day,  be  per- 
haps most  salutary  in  quarters  where  it  is  least 
likely  to  become  welcome. 
Moreover,  the  common  assertion  —  common, 


ioo  German  Life 

that  is,  out  of  Germany-  -that  military  service  is 
unpopular,  is  simple  nonsense.  The  institution 
which,  next  to  the  throne,  is  most  popular  in 
Germany,  is  the  army.  Its  popularity  runs 
through  all  classes  of  the  population,  and  so 
does  the  popularity  of  what  is  wrongly  called  in 
England  the  "conscription."  If  this  "conscrip- 
tion "  meant  what  the  word  implies, — the  enrol- 
ment, by  lot  or  otherwise,  of  only  a  part  of  the 
able-bodied  young  men  of  the  nation, --military 
service  would  probably  be  heartily  detested. 
But  the  fact  of  the  obligation  to  serve  being 
universal,  without  distinction  of  rank  or  class, 
makes  that  an  honour  which  would  otherwise 
be  felt  a  harsh  duty.  The  recruit  knows  that  he 
only  does  what  every  one  of  his  countrymen,  if 
eligible,  either  has  done,  is  doing,  or  will  do; 
and  this  consciousness  of  equality  reconciles  him 
to  every  sacrifice  which  is  laid  upon  him.  It 
would  be  idle  to  deny  that  many  persons  regard 
the  service  as  onerous,  for  the  long  roll  of  those 
who  courageously  flee  their  country  rather  than 
do  their  duty  to  it  would  falsify  such  a  denial. 
It  may  also  be  conceded  that  many  who  may  not 
seek  to  escape  from  this  obligation  to  the  State 
discharge  it  grudgingly  and  of  necessity.  But 
this  may  safely  be  said, — that  while  military 
service  entails  considerable  hardship  and  a  certain 
disappointment  of  plans  and  prospects,  the  num- 
ber of  those  one-year  or  even  two-year  recruits 


Military  Service  101 

who  carry  into  life  any  grudge  against  the  army, 
or  who  regard  their  association  with  it  other 
than  with  feelings  of  pride  and  gratification,  is 
exceedingly  small.  Even  working-men,  upon 
whom  military  service  might  seem  to  press  most 
heavily,  are  as  warmly  attached  to  the  army  as 
are  the  sons  of  officers  themselves.  Now  and 
then  a  growling  deserter  kicks  at  the  pricks 
because  his  hiding-place  has  been  found  out, 
and  he  is  compelled  to  do  the  duty  which  he 
had  shirked,  and,  straightway,  airs  his  dissatis- 
faction in  unpatriotic  contributions  to  foreign 
publications.  But  testimony  from  such  sources 
may  safely  be  rejected.  The  man  who  will  at- 
tack his  country  and  his  country's  institutions 
for  the  mere  amusement  of  the  outside  world  is 
not  likely  to  be  the  most  credible,  as  he  is  cert- 
ainly not  the  most  creditable,  of  witnesses. 

Yet,  when  these  legitimate  advantages  have 
been  claimed  for  the  military  training  which 
German  youth  undergoes,  and  when  the  un- 
doubted popularity  of  the  service  is  admitted,  it 
would  be  absurd  to  pretend  that  Germany  main- 
tains its  vast  army  from  the  mere  love  of  num- 
bers, or  is  in  a  peculiar  way  imbued  with  the 
martial  spirit.  It  is  easy  for  a  country  like  Eng- 
land, secure  against  attack  by  its  insular  position 
and  its  command  of  the  sea,  to  deplore  the  waste 
of  human  energy  and  material  treasure  which  is 
represented  when  an  entire  nation  is  under  arms, 


102  German  Life 

but  the  German  regards  these  superior  reflec- 
tions as  particularly  ungracious,  and  replies  that 
England,  instead  of  unkindly  criticising,  should 
be  grateful  for  her  own  privileged  position. 
Moreover,  how  often  do  the  critics  of  universal 
service  take  account  of  the  fact  that  Germany, 
with  all  its  soldiers,  is  in  reality  less  a  military 
country  than  England  is  a  naval  country  !  To 
reduce  the  matter  to  plain  figures,  while  Ger- 
many's standing  army,  in  numbers,  is  roughly 
as  two  to  one  when  compared  with  that  of  Eng- 
land, England's  navy  is  as  five  to  one  when 
compared  with  the  German  navy  as  it  stands  in 
the  present  year  (say,  a  hundred  and  ten  thou- 
sand men  and  a  hundred  and  sixty-five  battle- 
ships and  armoured  cruisers  for  England,  and 
twenty-three  thousand  men  and  twenty-seven 
battleships  and  armoured  cruisers  for  Germany). 
The  simple  explanation  is  that  England  and 
Germany  have  both  armed  themselves  where 
they  are  most  vulnerable, — in  the  one  case  on  sea, 
in  the  other  on  land.  With  powerful  States  both 
to  east  and  west  of  it,  jealous  of  its  prestige, 
hating  it,  if  the  truth  were  known,  with  a  perfect 
hatred,  each  ready  to  pounce  on  it, — if  only  the 
other  would  first  knock  it  down, — Germany 
must  be  perpetually  en  'vedette.  It  dare  not  risk 
a  less  degree  of  security  than  that  6f  its  neigh- 
bours. As  they  arm  themselves,  so  must  the 
Empire  arm  itself;  the  larger  their  battalions 


Military  Service  103 

become,  the  larger  must  be  its.  It  is  a  lamentable 
relationship  to  exist  between  civilised  States, 
only  less  lamentable  than  war  itself.  But  here 
is  the  position,  and  neither  demonstration  of  its 
economic  evil  nor  moralising  of  the  most  impas- 
sioned order  will  at  present  ameliorate  matters. 
The  question  which  Germany  has  to  face  is  not 
one  of  economics  or  ethics,  but  of  its  very  life 
as  a  nation,  its  independence  as  a  State.  It 
knows  that  only  by  being  prepared  for  war  can 
it  be  sure  of  peace,  and  it  bears  the  cost  of  its 
armaments  willingly.  After  all,  an  army  ex- 
penditure of  thirty-three  millions  a  year  is  econ- 
omy itself  when  compared  with  the  permanent 
result  of  an  unfavourable  war. 

To-day  the  genius  and  proficiency  of  the 
German  imperial  army  represents  the  accumu- 
lated results  of  a  century's  military  training,  un- 
intermittent,  whether  the  years  have  been  years 
of  war  or  of  peace.  Yet  it  is  Prussia  and  the 
brilliant  commanders  and  tacticians  whom  it  has 
given  to  the  army  that  have  brought  about  this 
condition  of  comparative  perfection.  ''Prussia 
contributes  more  soldiers  than  all  the  other 
States  combined;  and  not  only  has  it  during  the 
last  hundred  years  been  disciplined  in  a  severer 
school  of  war  than  any  other  European  country, 
but  its  citizens  have  for  ninety  of  these  years 
lived  under  the  obligation  of  universal  military 
service."  It  was  the  Frenchman  Talleyrand  who 


104  German  Life 

said  On  pent  tout  fair  e  avec  les  bayonettes  excepte 
sy  asseotr.  But  it  was  contemporary  generals 
and  statesmen  of  Prussia  who  recognised  that 
even  bayonets  only  became  effective  weapons 
when  used  with  skill.  "The  Prussian  army  is 
demoralised  by  peace,"  said  Gneisenau;  "if  you 
want  to  be  a  military  State,  you  must  engage  in 
war,  for  war  is  an  art,  and  every  art  needs  prac- 
tice." Thus  came  about  the  edict,  now  almost 
a  hundred  years  old,  which  required  every  capa- 
ble son  of  Prussia  to  study  and  learn  the  use  of 
arms.  With  such  a  long  military  tradition,  the 
wonder  is  that  there  is  not  more  of  the  fighting 
spirit  in  the  Prussians.  The  great  secret  of  the 
efficiency  and  the  incomparable  discipline  of  the 
German  army  is  the  cultivation  of  a  deep  sense 
of  direct  personal  responsibility  in  all  its  officers, 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  Each  in  his  own 
province  exercises  an  authority  which  is  virtually 
unlimited.  For  though  authority  travels  down- 
ward from  commander-in-chief,  through  all  the 
grades  of  rank,  to  captain,  and  from  him  farther 
downward  to  under-officers  of  various  degree, 
each  recipient  of  orders  knows  that  no  one  can 
come  between  him  and  his  responsibility.  More- 
over, wide  freedom  of  action  is  allowed  to  each 
officer  as  to  the  methods  by  which  the  desired 
results  are  to  be  obtained.  "  Every  commander, 
from  trie  captain  upwards,  is  responsible  for  the 
training  of  his  men,  according  to  regulation,  and 


Military  Service  105 

must,  therefore,  be  as  little  restricted  as  possible 
in  the  choice  of  means."  So  run  the  drill  regula- 
tions ;  though  the  necessary  rider  is  added, 
"The  immediate  superiors  are  bound  to  inter- 
fere, in  case  either  of  mistakes  or  want  of  pro- 
gress." Thus  the  principle  adopted  is  that  of 
unity  in  things  essential,  but  liberty  in  all  others, 
and  the  principle  has  been  found  to  work  admir- 
ably. The  unfriendly  critic  may  point  to  the 
abuse  of  power  which  is  occasionally  brought 
home  to  the  non-commissioned  officers.  Many 
of  these  men  undoubtedly  inflict  upon  the  pri- 
vates under  their  charge  hardship,  and  even 
cruelty,  such  as  would,  if  their  conduct  came  to 
light,  entail  upon  them  severe  punishment  and 
dismissal  from  an  army  of  whose  reputation  they 
are  not  worthy.  It  is,  of  course,  the  slow  and 
obtuse  recruits  who  mostly  suffer  in  these  cases, 
—  the  raw  countryman,  who  has  never  before 
learned  the  right  use  of  his  limbs  ;  the  obstinate 
labourer,  to  whom  agility  is  so  desperately  hard 
of  attainment.  Yet,  however  dull  and  backward 
his  men  may  be,  the  non-commissioned  officer 
is,  within  the  limits  laid  down  by  his  superiors, 
responsible  for  their  progress.  They  must  be 
made  to  learn  the  drill,  to  acquire  the  requisite 
celerity,  however  unnatural  it  may  be  to  them, 
and  to  attain  the  full  efficiency  of  the  company 
to  which  they  belong.  And  so  the  poor  rustic, 
who  can  plough  a  straight  furrow  though  he 


io6  German  Life 

cannot  for  his  life  dress  up  to  the  line,  who  can 
handle  a  fork  or  swing  a  flail  with  ease  and 
grace  though  he  cannot  shoulder  his  rifle  briskly, 
finds  the  first  few  months  of  barrack-life  hard 
and  galling.  Arbitrary  punishments  are  inflicted 
by  irascible  under-officers,  who  are  often  men 
without  refinement,  or  even  humane  instincts, 
and  who,  finding  themselves  dressed  in  brief 
authority,  magnify  and  abuse  their  power.  But 
such  abuse  is  the  exception,  and  when  discovered 
it  is  sternly  repressed.  The  general  treatment 
of  the  rank  and  file  is  considerate  and  kindly. 
The  exercises  may  at  times  be  severe,  and  the 
manoeuvres  are  always  intensely  fatiguing.  Yet 
the  attitude  of  the  commissioned  officer  towards 
his  men  is  everything  that  could  be  desired, 
and,  in  return,  the  loyalty  of  the  common  soldier 
to  his  superior  is  complete,  and  his  obedience, 
patience,  and  endurance  worthy  of  the  best 
military  traditions." 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  same  cordial  relation- 
ship does  not  invariably  exist  between  the  offi- 
cer and  the  civil  public.  Friction  is  of  frequent 
occurrence,  and  not  seldom  the  wrong  is  demon- 
strably  on  the  military  side.  The  officers,  in 
fact,  constitute  an  exclusive  caste,  and  the  gen- 
eral feeling  entertained  towards  civilians,  save 
those  of  State  official  rank,  is  one  of  depreciation 
and  even  worse.  It  is  an  anomalous  attitude  to 
hold,  seeing  that  the  civilians,  after  all,  keep  the 


Military  Service  107 

military  machine  going,  and  that  most  of  them 
have  at  one  time  or  another  taken  their  place  in 
the  army.  There  is  also  a  decided  tendency  for 
officers  to  take  undue  advantage  of  the  law 
which  makes  them  amenable  to  military  courts 
instead  of  the  civil  tribunals  of  the  land.  Offi- 
cers are  proverbially  jealous  of  the  dignity  of 
their  calling,  but  this  natural  and  proper  feeling 
finds  expression  at  times  in  unfortunate  ways, 
thanks  largely  to  the  fact  that  an  officer's  judges 
are  his  peers.  It  is  not  long  since  wide-spread 
indignation  was  caused  throughout  South  Ger- 
many by  a  painful  incident  which  strikingly 
illustrated  this  point.  In  a  cafe  at  Carlsruhe 
a  lieutenant  belonging  to  the  local  garrison 
was  seated,  and  in  passing  by  his  chair  an  art- 
isan happened  awkwardly  to  knock  against  it. 
The  officer  demanded  an  apology,  and  as  the 
artisan  foolishly  declined  to  give  it,  he  drew 
his  sword  and  attempted  to  run  the  man  through 
the  body.  Spectators  of  the  scene  intervened, 
and  the  artisan  made  his  way  into  another 
room  ;  but  the  officer's  blood,  instead  of  cool- 
ing, became  hotter  as  he  further  reflected  upon 
the  insult  he  had  received,  and,  following  the 
man,  and  finding  him  alone,  and  his  exit  pre- 
vented by  a  locked  door,  he  deliberately  stabbed 
him  through  the  back  with  fatal  results.  It 
must  also  be  added  that  the  officer's  conduct  re- 
ceived implicit  condonation  from  the  Government 


io8  German  Life 

when  brought  to  debate  a  short  time  later  in  the 
Reichstag. 

If  the  officers,  for  their  part,  have  a  grievance 
more  justifiable  than  service  grievances  generally 
are,  it  is  that  when  the  time  comes  for  taking 
their  discharge  in  the  ordinary  course,  the  State 
does  not  treat  them  over-liberally.  The  com- 
plaint is  not  unheard  of  elsewhere  ;  but  in  Ger- 
.many,  where  the  embryo  officer  is  not  always 
born  with  the  proverbial  silver  spoon  in  his  mouth, 
and  where  officers'  pay  has  never  been  accused 
of  exorbitancy  by  the  most  rigidly  economical 
critic  of  army  estimates,  it  has  a  serious  basis 
of  fact.  The  officer  claims  that  the  Govern- 
ment and  country  in  whose  service  he  spends 
the  best  years  of  his  life  -  -  often  without  receiv- 
ing remuneration  sufficient  to  meet  the  normal 
professional  calls  upon  a  man  in  his  position  — 
should  at  least  guarantee  him,  on  retirement,  oc- 
cupation in  some  public  sphere  compatible  with 
his  rank  and  capacities,  or,  failing  that,  an  ade- 
quate pension  allowance.  At  present  the  former 
alternative  is  held  out  in  but  a  small  minority  of 
cases,  and  as  the  average  pension  claimable  is 
inadequate  to  the  maintenance  of  a  tolerable  ap- 
pearance, service  in  some  private  capacity  is  re- 
sorted to  where  possible,  though  here  again  it  is 
only  the  favoured  few  who  succeed  in  obtaining 
suitable  appointments.  Sooner  or  later  the 
question  will  have  to  be  seriously  faced  by  the 


Military  Service  109 

Imperial  Government.  It  will  mean  higher  army 
expenditure,  but  it  is  inevitable,  for  the  present 
scale  of  officers'  pay  and  pensions  does  not  take 
account  of  the  severe  claims  and  obligations  of 
modern  life. 

What  especially  distinguishes  the  German 
army  from  every  other  modern  army  is  the  mas- 
terly way  in  which  all  the  principal  functions  of 
organisation  and  administration  are  centralised  in 
a  body  of  chosen  men,  whose  one  object  is  to 
do  the  army's  thinking.  This  body  is  the  Gen- 
eral Staff ;  for  there  is  no  Imperial  Ministry  of 
War.  After  the  Emperor,  the  supreme  central 
authority  is  the  Committee  of  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil for  the  Army  and  Fortresses,  whose  president 
is  the  Prussian  War  Minister,  while  the  Prussian 
Ministry  of  War  acts  as  its  executive  organ,  and 
conducts  all  necessary  business  with  the  separate 
War  Ministries  of  Bavaria,  Wurtemberg,  and 
Saxony.  But  the  true  ''brain  of  the  army"  is 
the  General  Staff.  It  is  composed  of  the  clever- 
est officers  in  the  entire  army,  who  undergo 
training  of  a  special  character  in  the  Berlin  War 
Academy.  The  members  of  the  Staff  are  not, 
however,  permanent,  but  are  constantly  being 
drawn  from,  and  returned  to,  the  troops.  The 
duties  of  this  council  are  multifarious.  It  is 
primarily  responsible  for  the  well-being  of  the 
service,  both  in  peace  and  war.  It  controls 
military  movements,  mobilises,  organises,  and 


no  German  Life 

governs ;  makes  plans  of  war  and  fights  battles  on 
paper.  It  not  only  administers  the  affairs  of  the 
home  army,  but  follows  military  activities  abroad, 
and  knows  as  much  about  the  defensive  position 
and  resources  of  some  nations  as  they  know 
themselves,  and  often  a  good  deal  more.  In  a 
word,  the  General  Staff  is  the  master-mind  that 
directs  the  countless  movements  of  a  vast  army, 
whose  millions  of  members,  active  and  in  re- 
serve, are  scattered  over  an  area  of  two  hundred 
and  eleven  thousand  square  miles.  Other  coun- 
tries have  their  War  Departments,  but  in  no 
State  are  the  deliberative  and  administrative  de- 
partments of  the  military  system  so  thoroughly 
organised  as  in  Germany,  because  in  no  other 
State  is  militarism  so  scientifically  and  so  seri- 
ously studied. 

A  question  very  closely  affecting  the  life  of 
the  army,  yet  having  interest  for  wider  circles 
of  society,  is  the  continued  popularity  of  the 
duel.  No  doubt  the  practice  is  on  the  decline, 
alike  in  the  army,  amongst  students,  and,  more 
still,  in  private  life,  though  official  statistics  on 
the  subject  do  not  give  a  faithful  idea  of  the 
extent  to  which  it  is  even  yet  resorted  to,  often 
on  the  flimsiest  of  pretexts.  Essentially  the 
duel  is,  of  course,  an  institution  of  the  army, 
whose  unwritten  laws  recognise  both  its  per- 
missibility and  necessity,  and  prescribe  precisely 
when  and  how  it  shall  be  resorted  to. 


Military  Service  m 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  root  of  this  evil  is 
the  arbitrary  conduct  of  the  military  courts  of 
honour-  -courts  of  officers,  which,  created  by 
royal  warrant,  are  made,  by  the  etiquette  of  the 
army,  absolutely  binding  upon  those  to  whom 
their  judgments  refer,  whether  such  judg- 
ments are  sought  or  not  These  courts  take  it 
upon  themselves  to  say  when  challenges  issued 
to  officers  must  be  accepted  ;  and  naturally  they 
show  no  disposition  to  deviate  from  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  mess-room,  which  regard  the  duel 
as  the  stoutest  part  of  honour's  armour.  The 
officer  who  is  bidden  to  respond  to  a  challenge 
must  do  so,  whether  he  like  or  not,  on  pain  of 
taboo  by  all  his  colleagues,  which  is  tantamount 
to  dismissal  from  the  army. 

Not  long  ago,  an  officer  who  had  declined  a 
duel,  and  had,  instead,  resorted  to  law,  was 
expelled  from  the  officers'  corps  to  which  he 
belonged  ;  with  the  result  that  he  changed  his 
mind  and  fought  a  duel,  for  which,  happily  for 
him,  his  antagonist  paid  the  penalty. 

Even  so  humane  a  man  as  the  Emperor  Will- 
iam I.  declared,  late  in  his  reign,  "  I  will  no 
more  tolerate  in  my  army  an  officer  who  is 
capable  of  wantonly  wounding  the  honour  of 
a  comrade  than  one  who  does  not  know  how 
to  vindicate  his  own  honour."  The  attitude 
was  contradictory,  for  it  is  exactly  wanton  in- 
sult--or  insult  which  is  regarded  as  such  — 


ii2  German  Life 

which  gives  rise  to  duels,  and  the  officers  who 
are  at  fault  nevertheless  remain  in  the  army  so 
long  as  they  are  willing  to  give  sanguinary  satis- 
faction, should  that  be  required. 

The  present  Emperor's  most  explicit  and 
most  deliberate  utterance  on  the  subject  is  con- 
tained in  the  preamble  to  a  Cabinet  Order, 
drawn  up  at  the  end  of  the  year  1896,  for  the 
better  regulation  of  military  courts  of  honour. 
"  It  is  my  will/*  said  the  Emperor,  "that  duels 
among  my  officers  should  be  more  effectively 
prevented  than  hitherto.  Their  occasion  is  often 
of  a  trifling  character,  such  as  private  differences 
and  insults  where  friendly  compromise  is  attain- 
able without  prejudice  to  professional  honour. 
An  officer  must  recognise  that  it  is  wrong  to 
injure  the  honour  of  another.  If,  however,  he 
has  erred  through  hastiness  or  excitement,  the 
chivalrous  course  to  pursue  is  not  to  persist  in 
his  error,  but  to  be  ready  to  agree  to  a  friendly 
compromise.  It  is  equally  the  duty  of  one  who 
has  been  offended  or  insulted  to  accept  the  offer 
of  reconciliation,  so  far  as  professional  honour 
and  propriety  permit.  It  is  therefore  my  will 
that  the  Council  of  Honour  shall  henceforth,  as 
a  matter  of  principle,  co-operate  in  the  settle- 
ment of  affairs  of  honour.  The  Council  must 
undertake  this  duty  with  the  conscientious  en- 
deavour to  bring  about  an  amicable  settlement." 

The  Cabinet  Order  then  issued  for  the  army's 


Military  Service  113 

guidance  decreed  that  when  a  dispute  or  insult 
between  officers  is  incapable  of  pacific  settle- 
ment "in  conformity  with  the  requirements  of 
professional  honour '  -  that  is,  in  accordance 
with  the  standard  of  honour  and  the  reparation 
due  to  wounded  dignity  which  military  etiquette 
lays  down-  -the  parties  concerned  must,  with- 
out resorting  to  arms,  communicate  at  once 
with  the  Council  of  Honour  which  applies  to 
them,  and  this  body,  after  learning  the  facts  of 
the  case,  may  either  (i)  postpone  a  settlement 
of  the  difference  ;  (2)  declare  that  no  settle- 
ment is  possible,  and  refer  the  matter  to  a  Court 
of  Honour  ;  or  (3)  declare  that  there  is  no  quest- 
ion of  honour  at  issue,  and  discharge  the  case  ; 
but  all  decisions  of  a  Council  of  Honour  are 
subject  to  the  veto  of  certain  superior  officers. 
Where  either  of  the  parties  is  dissatisfied  with 
the  finding  of  a  Council  of  Honour,  appeal  is 
also  allowed  through  such  officers  to  the  Em- 
peror personally,  as  head  of  the  army.  The 
Councils  of  Honour  have  similarly  to  adjudicate 
in  cases  of  dispute  between  officers  and  private 
persons.  Nominally,  and,  no  doubt,  with  in- 
tention, the  Order  discourages  duelling  in  the 
army,  though  it  by  no  means  forbids  it  ;  and, 
in  spite  of  the  heavier  obligations  imposed  upon 
the  judges,  there  is  yet  little  to  prevent  choleric 
officers  from  crossing  swords,  if  they  are  seri- 
ously disposed.  Much,  of  course,  depends  upon 

8 


ii4  German  Life 

the  constitution  of  the  Councils  of  Honour  ;  they 
possess,  theoretically,  the  power  to  prevent  a 
duel  wherever  they  wish  to  employ  it  ;  but  as 
these  bodies  are  composed  of  the  same  sus- 
ceptible and  inflammable  material  out  of  which 
the  duellists  themselves  are  made,  it  is  difficult 
to  ensure  that  entire  objectivity  of  consideration 
which  is  desirable,  while  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
conceive  of  an  affair  of  honour  ever  coming  for 
decision  before  men  actually  prejudiced  against 
this  obsolete  and  barbarous  mode  of  settling 
disputes.  Unfortunately,  too,  the  whole  theory 
of  the  permissibility  of  duelling  is  based  upon 
the  unpromising  doctrine  that  honour  amongst 
officers  is  something  different  from  honour 
amongst  civilians,  and  that  atonement  which 
would  be  held  to  be  ample  in  the  latter's  case 
when  wrong  has  been  done,  should  not  of 
necessity  satisfy  the  former. 

How  different  the  German  officer's  views  of 
this  question  are  from  those  generally  prevalent 
in  modern  society  may  be  illustrated  by  an  article 
which  was  contributed  by  an  officer  to  the  prin- 
cipal service  journal  of  Germany,  when  the  last 
public  outcry  against  the  practice  occurred. 
After  proving  to  his  complete  satisfaction  that 
Christian  doctrine  is  not  opposed  to  the  duel, 
though  granting  it  to  be  inconsistent  with  the 
law  of  the  land,  the  writer  went  on  to  say  : 
"  How  we,  as  officers,  have  to  act  is  prescribed 


Military  Service  115 

for  us  by  orders,  instructions,  and  the  unwaver- 
ing customs  and  traditions  of  our  class.  Those 
are  our  laws,  those  are  our  authorities.  If  thereby 
we  come  into  conflict  with  the  imperial  laws, 
we  are  ready  to  take  the  consequences.  Let  him 
who,  after  sincere  self-examination,  free  from 
feeling  of  hatred  and  anger,  determines  to  fight, 
do  so  in  the  conviction  that  he  thereby  trans- 
gresses neither  the  commandments  of  God  nor 
the  ordinances  of  Courts  of  Honour  nor  domi- 
nant customs.  As  on  the  field  of  battle,  may 
he  enter  upon  the  conflict  thrust  upon  him 
by  circumstances  with  the  firm  belief  that, 
'  Whether  we  live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord  ;  and 
whether  we  die,  we  die  unto  the  Lord.'  Such 
candid  advocacy  of  the  duel  and  such  thorough- 
going conviction  of  its  propriety  are,  to  say  the 
least,  novel  and  refreshing,  though  they  offer 
little  hope  that  the  practice  will  soon  fall  into 
desuetude. 

It  should  be  stated,  however,  that  the  Bavarian 
Government,  unlike  the  Prussian,  has  invariably 
looked  upon  duelling  with  a  less  lenient  eye. 
Not  only  do  the  Bavarian  military  regulations 
discourage  duelling,  and  forbid  any  Court  of 
Honour  to  exercise  coercion  upon  an  officer  who 
may  be  unwishful  to  place  his  life  in  peril  in  any 
such  absurd  way,  but  occasions  have  occurred 
in  which  the  Bavarian  Prince  Regent  has  himself 
Intervened  and  openly  taken  the  side  of  officers 


u6  German  Life 

who,  for  conscientious  reasons,  have  refused  to 
respond  to  a  challenge.  Not  only  so,  but  there 
is  a  vast  preponderance  of  public  opinion  through- 
out Germany  hostile  to  the  duel ;  and  it  is  signifi- 
cant that,  in  a  country  not  given  to  parliamentary 
petitioning,  no  fewer  than  seven  thousand  peti- 
tions, most  of  them  signed  by  several  thousand 
persons,  were  addressed  to  the  Government  on 
the  occasion  of  the  last  duel  scandal,  calling  for 
prompt  repressive  measures.  The  last  time  the 
question  provided  a  full-dress  debate  in  the 
Reichstag,  as  it  does  periodically,  the  House  was 
pretty  equally  divided.  Against  the  practice 
spoke  energetically  the  Clericals,  the  Radicals, 
and  the  Social  Democrats  ;  the  first  on  religious 
grounds,  the  last  two  on  the  peculiar  ground  that 
duelling  was  a  privilege  of  the  "  upper  classes," 
since  working-m2n  were  debarred  from  resorting 
to  the  less  dangerous  arbitrament  of  fisticuffs, 
save  on  peril  of  police  measures.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  two  Conservative  parties — which  give 
to  the  army  the  majority  of  its  officers — approved 
of  the  duel  as  a  sort  of  necessity  of  civilisation 
which  German  society  would  abandon  only  with 
hazard  to  personal  honour  and  chivalry. 

How  unequally  the  duel  works  in  practice  may 
be  illustrated  by  actual  occurrences  of  recent 
date.  At  a  public  dance  in  the  provinces  a  dis- 
pute arose  between  a  young  lieutenant  and  a 
student.  The  latter  was  under  the  impression 


Military  Service  117 

that  the  officer  had  forbidden  a  lady  in  the  room 
to  dance  with  his  brother,  and,  the  evening  being 
far  advanced,  the  two  passed  from  words  to 
blows.  The  matter  was  in  due  course  reported 
by  the  officer  to  the  Court  of  Honour  of  his 
regiment,  and  this  body  decided  that  the  insult 
he  had  received  could  be  atoned  only  by  a  duel. 
A  challenge  was  accordingly  issued  and  accepted, 
the  conditions  being  alternate  shots  at  fifteen 
yards  until  the  death  or  disablement  of  one  of 
the  combatants.  The  president  of  the  military 
Court  of  Honour  himself  acted  as  umpire.  After 
three  shots  had  been  exchanged  the  student  was 
slightly  wounded,  but  the  umpire  refused  to 
allow  the  duel  to  stop,  even  though  the  student 
had  meantime  offered  an  apology  to  the  aggrieved 
officer.  The  fight  went  on,  and,  with  the  fifth 
exchange  of  shots,  the  student  was  mortally 
wounded.  The  whole  of  these  facts  were  pub- 
lished by  the  military  authorities,  in  order  to  im- 
press an  indignant  public  with  a  due  sense  of 
the  absolute  correctness  of  their  behaviour  in 
the  matter. 

As  a  relief  to  this  tragic  side  of  the  question, 
the  following  curious  incidents  may  be  related. 
Three  men,  one  a  Reserve  officer,  were  prose- 
cuted for  a  brutal  attack  upon  a  fourth  person. 
During  the  trial  the  judge  who  heard  the  case 
chanced  to  make  the  comment  that  the  conduct 
of  the  accused  was  "ungentlemanlike."  He 


ii 8  German  Life 

was  promptly  challenged  by  the  military  defend- 
ant, but  declined  to  accept  the  challenge,  on  the 
ground  that  his  words  had  been  used  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  judicial  functions.  As  he,  too,  was 
a  Reserve  officer,  the  matter  came  before  the 
regimental  Court  of  Honour,  which  decided  that 
he  must  fight  ;  and  as  he  still  refused,  he  was 
expelled  from  the  officers'  corps.  Not  long  ago, 
a  Berlin  student  of  law  who  had  been  rebuked 
by  the  head  of  the  legal  faculty  for  unseemly 
behaviour  at  an  examination,  sent  his  examiner 
a  challenge.  The  professor  promptly  placed  the 
matter  in  the  hands  of  the  police,  and  the  mili- 
tant young  man  was  sentenced  to  four  months' 
detention  in  a  fortress. 

Duels  amongst  students  are  common  still  — 
perhaps  much  more  so  than  the  University  au- 
thorities wot  of  ;  and  the  causes  are  exactly  those 
which  tend  to,  and  are  held  to  justify,  duels 
amongst  officers  -  -  insults  and  indignities  for 
which  the  ordinary  apologies  of  civilised  life  are 
not  held  to  atone.  These  duels  are  carried  out 
with  the  utmost  secrecy,  and  the  only  know- 
ledge of  them  which  reaches  the  world  at  large 
is  through  cryptic  paragraphs  which  frequently 
find  their  way  into  the  newspapers.  There  are 
two  kinds  of  duel --the  duel  with  pistols  and 
that  with  sabres.  The  pistol  duel  is  fought,  as 
a  rule,  at  fifteen  paces.  Facing  each  other,  with 
their  long-muzzled  pistols  pointed  backward 


Military  Service  119 

over  the  shoulder,  the  combatants  advance  as 
the  umpire  counts  from  one  to  five,  a  step  for 
each  number.  They  may  fire  at  the  first  step, 
taking  but  a  moment's  aim,  or  both  or  either 
may  wait  until  the  distance  has  been  lessened. 
But  if  one  fires  he  must  stand  his  ground  until 
the  other  has  had  his  turn,  even  though  he  ad- 
vance the  whole  five  paces.  The  sabre  duel  is 
a  murderous  affair,  for  the  combatants  fight 
without  any  of  the  protection  usual  in  fencing, 
and  time  is  not  called  until  one  of  the  two  has 
been  disabled. 

Very  different  in  character,  as  well  as  or- 
igin, is  the  rapier  fencing  (Mensuren),  in  which 
students  so  largely  engage.  In  the  main  it  is  a 
harmless  exercise  of  skill  and  a  test  of  spirit, 
and  the  worst  side  of  it  is  that  its  devotees  waste 
much  time,  and  allow  their  faces  to  be  hacked 
and  hewn  regardless  of  appearance.  Virtually 
all  the  students'  associations  except  the  theo- 
logical require  their  members  to  engage  in  a 
series  of  Mensuren.  A  student  enters  an  asso- 
ciation as  freshman,  and  promotion  to  full  mem- 
bership cannot  be  attained  until  he  has  fought  his 
first  Mensur.  The  members  of  some  societies 
are  pledged  to  a  fixed  number  of  encounters 
each  term,  and  here  the  challenges  are  amicably 
arranged  and  amicably  prosecuted.  There  is  no 
danger  in  the  exercise,  though  the  weapons  used 
frequently  inflict  severe  wounds,  which  leave 


120  German  Life 

iheir  mark  for  life.  For  safety's  sake  the  hands, 
eyes,  neck,  and  breast  are  protected-  -the  hands 
by  means  of  baskets,  the  eyes  by  means  of  iron 
spectacles,  and  the  other  parts  by  means  of  silk 
bandages  and  shields.  The  face  and  skull  are 
thus  the  parts  really  exposed  to  the  cuts  of  the 
glittering  blade.  At  every  Mensur  a  medical  stu- 
dent is  present,  and  it  is  his  business  to  attend  to 
the  wounds,  and  stop  the  encounter  if  it  promises 
to  become  serious.  He  discharges  his  duty 
well,  and  many  are  the  stories  of  the  surgical 
feats  which  are  performed  in  emergencies  of 
this  kind --of  how  nose-ends  and  ear-tips  are 
gathered  expeditiously  from  the  ground  and  re- 
placed so  skilfully  as  not  to  betray  the  temporary 
excision,  nay,  of  how  science  has  even  remedied 
the  defects  of  nature  by  making  crooked  noses 
straight  in  the  act  of  restoration. 

The  Mensur  is  quite  in  keeping  with  the  mil- 
itary spirit  of  Germany  ;  and  there  is  no  gain- 
saying the  fact  that,  in  so  far  as  malice  and 
revenge  are  absent,  it  has  a  distinct  disciplinary 
value.  Its  exercise  inculcates  fortitude,  hardi- 
hood, and  endurance  ;  and  familiarity  with  pain 
is  not  its  least  useful  result.  It  would  be  absurd 
to  contend  that  manly  virtues  can  be  acquired 
only  at  the  rapier's  point,  but  the  Paukboden, 
or  fencing-floor,  is  a  tradition  of  German  aca- 
demic life,  and  as  such  it  must  be  judged  and 
tolerated.  The  present  Emperor  is  one  of  the 


o 


LJ 

LL. 


LJ 
Q 

ID 

CO 


mam 


Military  Service  121 

warmest  defenders  of  the  Mensur.  "I  hope," 
he  said,  addressing  a  students'  meeting  at  Bonn 
some  time  ago,  "that  as  long  as  there  are  Ger- 
man corps  students,  the  spirit  which  is  fostered 
in  their  corps,  and  which  is  steeled  by  strength 
and  courage,  will  be  preserved,  and  that  you 
will  always  take  delight  in  handling  the  rapier. 
There  are  many  people  who  do  not  understand 
what  our  Mensuren  really  mean,  but  that  must 
not  lead  us  astray.  As  in  the  Middle  Ages  manly 
strength  and  courage  were  steeled  by  the  prac- 
tice of  jousting  or  tournaments,  so  the  spirit  and 
habits  which  are  acquired  from  membership  of 
a  corps  furnish  us  with  that  degree  of  fortitude 
which  is  necessary  to  us  when  we  go  out  into 
the  world,  and  which  will  last  as  long  as  there 
are  German  universities." 

If  this  fencing  led  no  farther,  no  grave  ob- 
jection could  be  raised  against  it.  It  is,  however, 
questionable  whether  duelling  of  a  serious  kind 
would  be  practiced  by  German  students  did  not 
the  Mensur  claim  so  much  devotion.  Familiarity 
with  the  rapier  predisposes  to  the  use  of  more 
dangerous  weapons,  and  students  who  win  re- 
nown on  the  Paukboden  are  not  slow  to  try 
conclusions  upon  the  green  sward  of  the  early 
morning  tryst. 


CHAPTER  VI 

PUBLIC   EDUCATION 

THE  very  mention  of  Germany  calls  to  the 
mind  the  vision  of  endless  processions  of 
pedagogues,  with  spectacle  on  nose  and  ferule 
on  side.  Germany  is  a  land  of  schools,  just  as 
it  is  a  land  of  soldiers,  and,  in  truth,  the  associa- 
tion between  the  school  and  the  army,  or,  more 
correctly,  the  army's  efficiency,  is  closer  than 
might  at  first  be  supposed.  Prussia-  -to  speak 
of  the  soul  of  the  Empire-  -has  had  compulsory 
military  service  for  something  under  a  hundred 
years,  but  it  has  had  compulsory  education  for 
more  than  half  a  century  longer,  and  to-day  the 
principle  is  universal  in  every  one  of  the  other 
States,  though  schools  are  not  everywhere  free, 
even  in  the  same  State.  But  the  early  introduc- 
tion of  compulsory  and  (very  largely)  of  free 
education  is  not  sufficient  of  itself  to  account  for 
the  exemplary  schools  which  Germany  pos- 
sesses. The  true  secret  of  their  excellence  lies 
in  the  fact  that  the  State  insists  on  controlling 

122 


Public  Education  123 

the  entire  system  of  education,  from  the  bottom 
to  the  top.  Elementary  schools,  continuation 
schools,  higher  schools,  technical  schools,  boys' 
schools,  girls'  schools,  municipal  schools,  pri- 
vate schools,  universities, — all  are  subject  to  State 
approval  and  State  regulation,  and  in  everything 
the  Minister  of  Education  and  Public  Worship 
reserves  the  right  of  last  word  ;  nor  is  he  slow 
to  say  it  if  necessary.  It  is  commonly  believed 
that  German  schools  " drive "  their  children; 
and  the  discipline  which  they  undergo  is  cert- 
ainly exacting.  Those  who  enter  the  elementary 
school  do  so  on  the  completion  of  their  sixth 
year,  and  they  cannot  leave  it  until  the  age  of 
fourteen.  Let  the  child  be  never  so  bright,  he 
is  not  on  that  account  deprived  of  his  full  course 
of  education.  But  there  is  this  difference  be- 
tween the  German  and  the  English  system  :  the 
former  does  not  tolerate  the  pitiable  "half-time ' 
system.  The  school  years  are  undividedly  de- 
voted to  school  work,  and  the  factory  and  the 
farm  are  bidden  to  wait  their  time.  Even  four- 
teen is  held  by  many  German  school  reformers 
to  be  too  young  an  age  for  optional  withdrawal 
from  school.  The  curriculum  of  the  element- 
ary schools  naturally  differs  according  to  States, 
and  also  according  as  the  schools  are  in  town 
or  country.  In  the  Berlin  schools  the  sub- 
jects taught  comprise,  besides  the  three  R's, 
grammar,  geography,  history,  religion,  natural 


124  German  Life 

history,  drawing,  geometry,  singing,  drill  and 
gymnastics,  and  sewing.  In  some  schools, 
natural  sciences,  chemistry,  and  stenography  are 
also  taught.  Religious  instruction  is  confined  to 
the  Bible,  the  Catechism,  and  the  learning  of 
the  Church  hymns  in  Protestant  schools,  and  to 
this  branch  of  school  work  great  importance 
is  attached  by  the  State,  which  in  this  matter 
has  plenty  of  zealous  supporters,  both  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Conservative  and  the  Catholic  party. 
Here  it  must  be  noted  that  the  schools  are, 
as  far  as  possible,  made  "confessional"  ;  that 
is,  they  take  the  character,  so  far  as  religious 
instruction  is  concerned,  of  the  Church  which 
is  most  represented  by  the  scholars,  whether 
Protestant  or  Catholic.  For  the  Jews,  too, 
special  schools  are  provided  in  the  towns,  but 
mixed  or  "simultaneous"  schools  also  exist. 
Nevertheless,  the  religious  difficulty  obtains, 
though  it  is  essentially  a  modern  phase  of  the 
education  question  in  Germany.  Half  a  century 
ago  it  was  never  heard  of.  How  far  the  na- 
tional sentiment  of  Prussia  was  at  that  time 
from  the  indifference  and  antagonism  to  religious 
teaching  which  are  so  marked  in  these  sceptical 
days  may  be  judged  by  the  provisions  which 
the  constitution  of  1850  introduced  on  the  ques- 
tion of  religion,  religious  teaching,  and  religious 
convictions.  These  provided  for  the  co-ordina- 
tion of  elementary  schools,  as  far  as  possible, 


Public  Education  125 

\ 

according  to  "confessional  conditions,"  as  in 
other  States,  and  it  was  provided  that  religious 
instruction  in  these  schools  should  be  conducted 
by  "the  religious  communities  affected."  This 
instruction  was  to  be  accepted  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  there  was  no  idea  either  of  secular 
schools  or  of  relieving  parents  of  the  usual  obli- 
gation to  bring  up  their  children  in  "reverence 
and  godly  fear,"  according  to  true  Scriptural 
rule. 

The  religious  difficulty  is  mainly  a  consequence 
of  the  widespread  rationalism  and  materialism 
which  are  to  be  found  amongst  those  who  are 
alienated  from  the  Church.  In  Prussia  the  dif- 
ficulty is  dealt  with  in  a  somewhat  rough- 
and-ready  fashion.  According  to  the  Prussian 
Common  Law  (Landrecht),  religious  teaching 
must  of  necessity  form  part  of  the  school  cur- 
riculum, and  only  one  definite  religion  can  be 
taught  in  each  school,  while,  as  far  as  may  be, 
only  children  belonging  to  the  religion  taught 
are  admitted.  Thus,  while  there  are  separate 
schools  for  State  Church  Protestants,  for  Roman 
Catholics,  and  for  Jews,  the  Free  Churches  —  like 
the  atheistic  seceders  —  are  not  recognised  at  all. 
Conscientious  scruples  are,  however,  partially 
protected  by  a  provision  in  the  old  Common 
Law  which  states  that  "  children  who  are  to  be 
brought  up  in  a  different  religion  from  that  of 
the  elementary  school  they  attend  cannot  be 


i26  German  Life 

compelled  to  receive  the  religious  instruction  in 
the  same."  Originally  this  provision  was  intro- 
duced in  the  interest  solely  of  State  Church 
Protestants,  Catholics,  and  Jews,  and  was  ap- 
plied in  places  where  either  one  or  two  of 
these  sections  of  the  community  had  no  other 
option  than  to  use  an  alien  school.  In  time, 
however,  two  other  classes  of  people  came  to 
benefit  by  the  exemption,- -the  new  Protestant 
sects  which  appeared  in  various  parts  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  free-thinkers  who  had  formally 
withdrawn  from  the  National  Church,  as  the 
law  of  the  land  allows  them  to  do.  Under  suc- 
cessive Ministers  of  Education  -  -  the  last  of 
them  Ministers  Falk  and  von  Gossler-  -the 
children  of  "dissident'  parents  were  exempted 
from  religious  teaching,  without  restriction,  on  a 
simple  declaration  that  such  parents  would  take 
other  measures  to  provide  for  their  religious 
instruction.  Minister  von  Zedlitz,  however,  in 
1892  introduced  a  new  reservation,  when  he 
made  exemption  from  religious  teaching  depend- 
ent upon  proof  that  the  substitutionary  teaching 
provided  elsewhere  by  the  parents  was  adequate 
in  character.  Dr.  Bosse,  his  successor,  main- 
tained the  same  position  ;  and  when  taxed  with 
infringing  the  principle  of  freedom  of  conscience, 
as  laid  down  by  the  Constitution,  advanced  the 
ingenious  contention  that  the  consciences  of 
parents  could  not  be  offended  owing  to  their 


Public  Education  127 

children  being  compelled  to  receive  religious 
instruction,  for  such  instruction  was  a  matter 
between  the  school  and  the  child  alone,  and  the 
law  did  not  recognise  freedom  of  conscience 
on  the  part  of  schoolboys  and  schoolgirls, — 
if  it  did,  they  might  as  well  close  all  the  schools 
at  once.  This,  then,  is  how  the  practice  of  the 
schools  rests  at  present.  Children  maybe  with- 
drawn during  the  religious  teaching  hour,  but 
only  on  their  parents  positively  undertaking  to 
provide  such  teaching  elsewhere  ;  nor  is  it 
possible  for  protesting  parents  to  obtain  other 
redress. 

But,  again,  the  excellence  of  the  Government 
elementary  schools  is  also  due  to  the  systematic 
training  given  to  the  teachers.  Not  only  are 
the  preparatory  colleges  beyond  praise,  but  the 
college  course  is  long  and  severe.  The  pupil- 
teacher,  pitiable  product  of  the  English  school- 
starving  system,  is  unknown.  Teaching  of 
even  an  elementary  character  is  deferred  until 
the  theoretical  part  of  training  is  over,- -the 
eight  or  ten  years'  continuous  study,  first  in  a 
higher  school,  be  it  observed,  and  then  in  a 
training  college.  The  result  is  that  qualified 
teachers  enter  upon  the  serious  work  of  life  and 
become  independent  far  later  than  with  us,  but 
popular  education  gains  incalculably  by  the 
longer  and  severer  discipline  through  which 
they  are  required  to  pass.  The  general  type 


128  German  Life 

of  teacher,  socially,  is  distinctly  a  superior  one. 
There  is,  indeed,  little  difference  between  the 
teachers  of  the  better  elementary  and  those  of 
the  higher  schools,  so  far  as  rank  of  life  goes. 
The  fact  is,  that  no  small  part  of  the  students 
who  fail  to  pass  the  very  severe  examination 
which  is  necessary  before  a  higher -school 
teacher's  diploma  can  be  obtained  fall  back  upon 
the  elementary  school,  for  which  a  much  easier 
test  is  imposed.  Yet  the  remuneration  is,  on 
the  whole,  very  inadequate,  as  English  ideas 
are.  A  salary  of  ^"100  is  regarded  as  relatively 
liberal,  and  one  of  ^150  as  beyond  the  dreams 
of  avarice.  There  is,  however,  a  certain  com- 
pensation in  the  fact  that  moderate  pensions  are 
also  offered  after  a  long  term  of  service.  Yet, 
meanwhile,  the  teacher  has  to  live,  and  he  feels 
the  pinch  severely.  But  here  a  feature  of  the 
German  system  which  is  in  every  respect  laud- 
able must  be  noted.  The  salaries  of  teachers 
are  fixed,  and  rise  with  the  years  of  service, 
instead  of  depending  on  the  results  of  examina- 
tions, or  on  scholars'  attendances.  The  principle 
of  bribery  which  was  introduced  into  the  Eng- 
lish system  by  a  mercenary  and  business  spirit — 
partly  with  a  view  of  running  education  on  com- 
mercial principles,  and  partly  that  children  might 
be  hurried  through  the  school  to  the  factory  as 
soon  as  possible-  -is  unknown  in  Germany. 
Thus,  though  there  may  be  over-pressure,  there 


Public  Education  129 

is  no  cramming.  The  children  pursue  a  course 
of  instruction  which  is  normal  throughout, 
and  their  training  is  honest,  thorough,  and 
rational. 

The  care  of  the  children  does  not  stop,  how- 
ever, at  their  mental  development.  Gymnastic 
exercises  on  scientific  principles  form  a  serious 
part  of  the  school  plan,  both  for  the  younger 
and  older  children.  Scholars'  excursions,  in 
amplification  of  the  ordinary  lessons  in  natural 
science,  are  a  very  attractive  feature  of  the 
summer  work.  School  baths  are  becoming 
more  and  more  common.  For  the  children  of 
poor  parents  free  meals  are  supplied  in  many 
places  during  the  winter  months.  The  school 
doctor  is  also  a  responsible  official  in  the  larger 
towns.  He  is  engaged  to  exercise  a  general 
oversight  over  the  health  of  the  scholars,  and 
to  give  advice  to  the  authorities  upon  hygienic 
and  medical  questions  when  required.  The 
municipality  of  Berlin  employs  the  partial 
services  of  a  large  number  of  experienced  doc- 
tors in  this  way.  In  every  direction  enterprise, 
thoroughness,  and  practical  common-sense  char- 
acterise the  German  elementary  school  system. 
The  expenditure  has  become  far  greater,  the 
machinery  vastly  more  complicated,  than  could 
have  seemed  possible  a  decade  or  two  ago  ;  but 
that  is  because  Germany,  having  hitherto  led  the 
way  in  popular  education,  has  determined  not 


i3°  German  Life 

to  fall  behind,  and  has  faith  in  the  result  of  its 
investment  and  its  endeavours. 

In  the  co-ordination  of  public  schools,  as  it  has 
been  developed  in  Prussia,  no  fewer  than  seven 
types  of  secondary  schools  intervene  between 
the  elementary  schools  and  the  universities. 
First  come  the  Gymnasia,  which  are  strictly 
classical  schools.  The  Gymnasium  is  the  first 
door  to  the  highest  possibilities  of  State  service 
and  professional  promotion  ;  for  a  student  who 
has  passed  the  final  examination  in  the  first  form 
(Prima)  may  claim  entrance  to  the  universities 
and  to  State  technical  academies  of  every  kind, 
or  he  may  at  once  undergo  the  specific  examina- 
tion requisite  to  becoming  a  civil  servant.  The 
Progymnasia  are  like  the  Gymnasia,  save  that 
they  lack  the  first  or  highest  form.  The  Real- 
gymnasia  retain  Latin,  but  drop  Greek,  and  in 
place  of  it  give  more  time  to  some  modern  sub- 
jects. The  lowest  class  of  Gymnasia  are  the 
Realprogymnasia,  which  take  the  same  subjects 
as  the  last,  but  do  not  carry  their  pupils  so  far. 
The  Oberrealschulen  and  the  Realschulen,  as  a 
rule,  dispense  both  with  Greek  and  Latin,  and, 
as  is  meet  in  schools  intended  for  boys  who  will 
follow  a  commercial  life,  give  great  attention  to 
living  languages  and  to  so-called  practical  sub- 
jects. At  the  bottom  of  the  list  come  the 
Higher  Burgher  Schools,  whose  teaching  is  even 
more  mercantile  in  character.  But  each  of  these 


Public  Education  131 

different  schools  offers  to  the  youth  who  passes 
its  final  examination  some  special  opening  in  the 
service  of  the  State.  The  prospect  before  the 
lad  whose  education  has  been  obtained  in  the 
Burgher  School  is,  of  course,  very  limited,  and 
if  he  secures  some  junior  clerkship  in  the  Law 
Courts  or  the  Post  Office,  he  will  be  content  ; 
but  as  the  status  of  the  school  rises,  so  the  social 
and  professional  prospect  of  its  pupils  widens. 
For  every  State  servant  is  what  he  is  by  educa- 
tional qualification.  Everything  is  ordered  with 
scientific  exactness,  and  a  sensible  father,  before 
determining  to  which  school  his  son  shall  go, 
considers,  besides  the  depth  of  his  purse,  the 
ultimate  career  in  prospect. 

Not  only  in  Prussia,  but  in  other  German 
States,  the  discovery  has  been  made  that  the 
Gymnasia  have  been  excessively  fostered,  to  the 
detriment  of  the  non-classical  schools,  and  a 
strong  reaction  has  set  in  favourable  to  the 
greater  encouragement  of  higher  schools  with  a 
modern  side.  Against  the  Gymnasia,  as  such, 
there  is  little  or  nothing  to  be  said.  As  classical 
schools  they  are  irreproachable,  and  the  students 
they  send  out  are,  in  their  way,  intellectual 
prodigies.  But  in  so  far  as  the  giving  of  undue 
prominence  to  classical  subjects  makes  education 
one-sided  and  unpractical,  the  Gymnasia  have 
much  to  answer  for  and  much  to  make  good. 
"The  elect  minority  of  students  who  pass 


132  German  Life 

through  all  the  stages  until  the  last  gauntlet  of 
examination  has  been  run,  win  for  themselves 
clear  title  to  respect,  for  the  discipline  is  no 
child's  play,  but  the  sacrifice  is  often  a  heavy 
one.  They  have  toiled  laboriously  up  the 
heights  ;  yet,  instead  of  the  world  lying  at  their 
feet,  as  might  be  supposed,  the  prospect  before 
them  is  often  very  limited.  If  they  wait  long 
enough,  the  career  they  have  had  in  view  may 
come  within  their  reach,  but  the  waiting  is  gen- 
erally tedious  and  trying.  Should  they,  how- 
ever, abandon  their  original  design,  and  look  for 
other  openings,  the  choice  is  small  indeed.  For 
the  worst  of  this  system  of  education  is,  that  the 
youths  who,  after  a  long  and  terribly  hard  school 
course,  are  unable  to  gain  admission  to  any  of 
the  professions,  cannot  easily  turn  to  anything 
else.  They  are  only  fit  for  the  narrow  sphere 
upon  which  their  hopes  and  aims  were  set. 
They  lack  adaptability,  because  their  education 
has  been  one-sided,  and  has  paid  little  or  no 
regard  to  the  requirements  and  conditions  of 
practical  life.  Worse,  however,  is  the  case  of 
those  who,  after  spending  many  years  in  studies 
far  above  their  capacities,  are  sent  into  the  world 
half  educated.  The  number  of  these  is  very 
large.  Since  every  man  of  much  money  and 
little  discretion  wishes  his  sons,  whether  promis- 
ing or  not,  to  go  through  the  Gymnasium,  the 
lower  forms  of  the  classical  schools  are  always 


Public  Education  133 

crowded.  Naturally,  the  progress  of  the  youths 
is  not  equal.  Those  of  ability  advance  normally 
from  form  to  form,  while  those  without  aptitude 
for  learning  remain  behind,  and  drudge  for  years 
at  the  rudiments  of  an  erudite  knowledge  which 
Divine  Providence  never  intended  for  heads  like 
theirs.  It  is  an  absurd  arrangement,  but  the 
fault  lies  at  the  doors  of  foolish  parents.  So  the 
years  pass  on,  and  by  the  time  the  backward 
youths  should  have  reached  the  highest  form 
they  are  only  half-way  to  the  top,  and  at  this 
stage  they  are  turned  out, — educational  failures. 
The  ten  years  or  more  which  should  have  cov- 
ered the  whole  curriculum  of  the  Gymnasium 
have  been  expended  in  struggling  through  the 
elementary  stages.  Useful  subjects  have  been 
neglected  altogether  in  favour  of  studies  far 
above  the  learner's  capacity.  The  boy  has  gone 
through  endless  labour,  and  the  result  is  of  the 
least  tangible  character.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
these  precious  years  had  been  spent  in  a  school 
of  a  lower  grade,  little  or  none  of  the  time  need 
have  been  thrown  away.  The  lad  would  not 
have  been  turned  out  a  pundit,  but  he  would 
not  have  remained  an  ignoramus.  As  he  went 
to  the  Gymnasium  he  had  to  submit  to  its  in- 
exorable discipline.  It  did  the  best  it  could  with 
the  material  at  disposal.  That  better  results 
were  not  achieved  was  not,  in  his  case  at  any 
rate,  the  fault  of  the  education  there  imparted, 


134  German  Life 

but  of  the  learner,  who  was  not  fitted  to  attempt 
its  acquisition."  The  Gymnasia  will  never  be 
dethroned,  however,  though  the  tendency  is  to 
reduce  their  number,  and  proportionately  to  in- 
crease the  supply  of  modern  schools,  which,  in 
the  words  of  the  present  Emperor,  shall  turn  out 
no  longer,  "  Greeks  and  Romans,  but  Germans," 
hence  reducing  the  present  "over-production  of 
learned  and  so-called  educated  people,  the  num- 
ber of  whom  is  now  greater  than  the  nation  can 
bear."  All  Germany  jubilantly  welcomed  the 
Emperor's  insistence  on  reform  in  this  direction, 
when  he  took  up  the  thorny  subject  a  few  years 
ago  ;  but,  though  a  beginning  has  been  made, 
much  remains  to  be  done. 

As  for  the  cost  of  this  higher  education,  it 
is  ridiculously  low.  Figures  obtained  from  five 
hundred  Gymnasia  and  Progymnasia  showed 
the  maximum  yearly  rates  to  be  under  £3  ios. 
in  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  schools,  £3  ios. 
to  £5  in  two  hundred  and  one  schools,  £5  to 
155.  in  a  hundred  and  twenty-five,  and  over 
155.  in  only  fifty-four  cases.  Again,  of  two 
hundred  and  seventeen  Real  gymnasia,  Realpro- 
gymnasia,  and  Oberrealschulen,  twenty  charged 
less  than  £3  ios.,  and  a  hundred  and  twelve  £5 
and  over.  Of  a  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
Realschulen  and  Higher  Burgher  schools,  eighty- 
seven  charged  £3  ios.  and  thirty-five  £5  and 
upwards.  In  Bavaria  the  lowest  rates  were  found 


Public  Education  135 

to  exist,  as,  for  example,  in  very  exceptional 
cases,  95.,  i  os.,  and  125.  a  year  ;  while  in  Sax- 
ony, which  had,  on  the  whole,  the  highest 
figures,  as  much  as  £\o  ios.,  £i}  i6s.,  and 
;£i5  was  charged.  The  rates  in  Prussia  aver- 
aged about  £4  155.  While  education  of  the 
highest  class  is  obtainable  on  terms  so  moderate, 
the  pupils  benefit  at  the  expense  of  the  teachers, 
who  are  deserving  of  far  better  payment  than 
they,  as  a  rule,  receive.  In  the  smaller  provincial 
towns,  headmasters  (called  rectors)  of  higher 
boys'  and  girls'  schools  can  readily  be  had  for 
any  sum  between  .£100  and  £200,  and  assist- 
ants for  special  departments  for  from  £60  to 


From  the  secondary  school  to  the  university  is 
a  step  far  more  natural,  and  far  more  frequently 
taken,  than  in  England.  Perhaps  in  no  country 
in  the  world  is  the  door  of  educational  advance- 
ment so  wide  open  as  in  Germany,  where  a  boy 
of  genuine  intelligence  and  capacity,  no  matter 
how  humble  his  origin,  or  how  straitened  his 
resources,  may  make  the  triumphant  progress 
from  the  elementary  school  to  the  university 
without  fear  of  obstacle,  or  --given  staying 
power  —  of  failure.  One  of  the  most  famous 
academic  teachers  of  to-day  in  Germany,  a 
thinker  of  world-wide  reputation,  travelled  this 
selfsame  way,  and  is  a  proof  of  the  distinction 
which  is  within  the  reach  of  a  plodding  country 


German  Life 


schoolboy  who  betimes  goes  not  unwillingly 
to  school,  and  in  fuller  years  has  a  love  of  learn- 
ing for  learning's  sake,  together  with  the  ambi- 
tion to  put  his  gifts  to  practical  use. 

How  seriously  the  Germans  take  education, 
how  devoted  they  are  to  its  acquisition,  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  that  no  fewer  than  seventy- 
five  per  cent,  of  all  the  pupils  who  during  a 
period  of  twelve  years  left  the  Gymnasia  and 
Realgymnasia  of  Prussia,  having  taken  the 
final  certificate  of  "  maturity,"  proceeded  at 
once  to  the  universities.  Of  these,  thanks  to  its 
multiplicity  of  States  and  Courts,  Germany  is 
the  fortunate  possessor  of  no  fewer  than  twenty- 
two  of  all  grades.  In  every  university  there  are 
three  classes  of  teachers.  There  are  first  the 
Ordinary  Professors,  with  whom  are  ranked 
Honorary  Ordinary  Professors,  where  such  ex- 
ist ;  next  come  the  Extraordinary  Professors, 
sometimes  few  in  number,  though  often  as  nu- 
merous as  the  ordinary  teachers  ;  and  then  quite 
an  army  of  Privatdocenten,  who  do  not  bear  the 
title  of  professor.  The  latter  are  teachers  on 
probation,  generally  young  doctors  who,  after 
going  through  the  university  course  with  dis- 
tinction, decide  to  follow  an  academic  career. 
Almost  invariably  they  are  men  of  power  and 
promise,  and  the  only  pity  is  that  the  univers- 
ities compensate  them  so  meagrely  while  using 
them  so  freely.  But  few  even  of  the  professors 


Public  Education  137 

can  be  said  to  be  spoiled  in  this  respect.  High 
thinking  has  still  to  go  hand  -  in  -  hand  with 
low  living,  and  the  flesh  to  be  flagellated  for  the 
spirit's  and  the  taxpayer's  sake, — for  the  main 
burden  of  academic  salaries  falls  on  the  State 
treasury. 

The  students  are  best  off,  for  the  fees  charged 
are,  as  a  rule,  almost  nominal.  For  several 
pounds  a  term  the  student  may  hear  as  many 
lectures  as  he  is  able  to  work  up,  and  in  the 
event  of  poverty  he  can  always  obtain  par- 
tial or  complete  remission  of  fees.  A  legend  of 
Rostock  University  is  that,  owing  to  the  num- 
ber of  its  scholarships,  an  official  is  deputed  to 
meet  all  trains  at  the  beginning  of  term  for  the 
purpose  of  forcing  "free  places  "  (Freistellen)  on 
the  incoming  students.  Nor  are  poor  students 
rare.  If  any  testimony  were  needed  on  the  point 
it  would  be  afforded  by  the  many  offers  of  peda- 
gogic service  which  are  to  be  found  affixed  to 
every  university  blackboard.  Money  must  be 
more  precious  than  time  when  lessons  are  of- 
fered at  sixpence  the  hour,  and  daily  tutors  can 
be  employed  for  "  £2  a  month  and  supper  free." 
But  even  more  impressive  tokens  of  the  low 
value  placed  upon  educational  service  might  be 
quoted  from  this  fertile  source  of  information 
and  entertainment.  Here  is  a  literal  copy  of  a 
blackboard  announcement,  jotted  down  in  a 
note-book  during  my  Berlin  days  :  "A  classical 


138  German  Life 

philologist  is  desired  as  private  tutor  for  one 
pupil.  The  principal  requirements  are,  that  he 
shall  have  passed  his  State  examinations  [that  is, 
taken  his  doctor's  degree],  and  served  his  pro- 
bationary year  as  teacher  and  that  he  shall  be 
expert  in  stenography.  In  return  for  his  services 
free  board  and  lodging  are  offered."  Simply 
that,  and  nothing  more  !  To  this  announcement 
a  student's  hand  had  added  :  "  Is  that  all  ?  Will 
he  not  be  required  to  know  music,  English, 
French,  ventriloquism,  and  croquet  ? '  It  is  a 
sin  unto  death  to  disfigure  a  blackboard  notice, 
yet  even  the  Rector  Magnificus  himself  would 
have  pardoned  this  offending  annotator. 

The  frequenters  of  a  German  university  are 
decidedly  diverse  in  composition,  and  represent 
-as  is  proper-  -a  fuller  and  fairer  admixture  of 
the  staple  elements  of  society  than  can  be  found 
associated  with  any  other  national  institution. 
A  careful  classification  of  the  students  who  ma- 
triculated at  the  universities  of  Prussia  during  four 
successive  terms  showed  the  total  of  12,709  na- 
tive students  to  be  made  up  of  2198  sons  of 
tradesmen  (merchants,  shopkeepers,  etc.),  1981 
sons  of  manufacturers  and  artisans,  1849  sons  of 
officials  without  academic  education,  1613  sons 
of  independent  farmers,  1099  sons  of  teachers 
without  academic  education,  890  sons  of  clergy- 
men, 888  sons  of  State  and  municipal  officials 
and  solicitors  with  academic  education,  471  sons 


Public  Education  139 

of  doctors,  416  sons  of  teachers  with  academic 
education,  351  sons  of  retired  persons  living  on 
their  means,  253  sons  of  large  landowners,  216 
sons  of  hotel  keepers,  183  sons  of  apothecaries, 
and  127  sons  of  officers  of  the  army.  Yet  this 
mingling  in  the  lecture-rooms  of  classes  so  dis- 
similar does  not  really  imply  any  intimate  as- 
sociation on  equal  terms,  or  even  the  tacit 
forgetfulness  of  social  disparities,  of  which  all 
alike  are  conscious.  These  disparities  are  not 
emphasised,  do  not  even  receive  open  recogni- 
tion; but  there  is  none  the  less  an  absence  of 
that  personal  tie  between  the  students  which 
exists  so  largely  in  the  English  residential  col- 
leges. The  German  universities  are  not,  how- 
ever, residential,  but  are  essentially  teaching 
institutions,  to  which  the  student  goes,  or  should 
go,  so  many  (or  so  few)  times  a  day,  to  hear 
lectures,  and  thereafter  to  follow  his  own  sweet 
will  and  way  in  the  world.  Hence  the  bond  of 
student  comradeship  is  slight  indeed,  unless  cult- 
ivated by  extra-university  methods,  and  espe- 
cially by  those  of  the  students'  corps,  with  their 
accompanying  jollities  and  bon-camaraderie. 

But  the  disadvantage  of  this  looseness  of  the 
tie  which  connects  the  student  with  his  university 
is  chiefly  seen  in  the  absence  of  effective  control 
over  study,  and  this  is  a  serious  matter  where 
idle  students- -for  there  are  plenty  such- -are 
concerned.  Whether  a  student  seriously  works 


German  Life 


or  not  is  known  to  no  one  but  himself  and  event- 
ually the  examiners,  who,  when  his  semesters 
are  over,  are  called  upon  to  judge  his  fitness  for 
the  doctor's  title.  His  real  teachers-  -the  pro- 
fessors whose  lectures  he  more  or  less  regularly 
attends  —  know  as  a  rule  but  little  of  his  progress, 
and  often  care  less.  Their  duty  in  the  matter  is 
very  perfunctory.  It  is  to  initial  the  student's 
lecture-register  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end 
of  term,  —  at  the  beginning  of  term  in  testimony 
to  the  fact  that  a  specific  lecture  has  been  taken 
(belegt)  and  paid  for,  and  at  the  end  of  term  in 
testimony  that  it  has  been  attended.  But  how 
does  the  professor  know  this  ?  He  does  not 
know  it  at  all,  and  never,  or  seldom,  tries  to 
learn  the  truth  or  otherwise  of  the  certificate  he 
gives.  And  yet,  when,  after  lecturing  to  an 
average  room  of  a  score  and  a  half  students  all 
through  term,  a  professor  finds  himself  invited 
to  sign  a  hundred  books,  it  should  occur  to  his 
mind  either  that  the  function  which  he  is  dis- 
charging is  an  utterly  meaningless  one,  or  that 
he  is  taking  part  in  a  pious  fraud.  Not  all  pro- 
fessors are  indifferent  upon  this  subject,  how- 
ever; and  though  custom  is  difficult  to  break, 
and  traditions  die  hard,  it  is  scarcely  too  much  to 
expect  that  before  long  one  of  two  things  will 
happen,  —  either  steps  will  be  taken  to  exercise 
a  certain  oversight  over  the  work  of  the  students 
who  duly  matriculate,  and  to  see  that  the  lectures 


Public  Education  141 

which  they  take  are  really  attended,  or  the 
teachers  will  be  relieved  of  participation  in  a 
formality  which,  while  it  serves  no  useful  pur- 
pose, effectively  protects  idle  students  from 
detection. 

While,  however,  familiar  intercourse  between 
the  teachers  and  their  hearers  has  largely  passed 
out  of  fashion,  the  personal  relationship  is  in 
some  degree  cultivated  by  means  of  the  seminary. 
This  is  an  inner  circle  of  students,  formed  for 
specialised  study,  consultation,  debate,  and  in- 
dependent investigation,  under  the  guidance  of 
the  professor  in  connexion  with  whose  lectures 
it  is  conducted.  The  seminary  meets,  as  a  rule, 
during  hours  not  taken  up  by  ordinary  lectures, 
and  is  a  powerful  stimulus  to  earnest  study,  and 
a  pleasant  means  of  bringing  professor  and 
student  into  nearer  acquaintance.  At  every 
meeting  a  paper  is  read  and  then  criticised  indis- 
criminately, after  which  the  presiding  professor 
sums  up,  and  passes  judgment  upon  the  opinions 
which  have  been  uttered.  Then  the  German 
professor,  whom  conventional  ideas  picture  as 
the  incarnation  of  aridity,  is  seen  from  his  most 
attractive  side,  and  he  proves  a  thoroughly  human 
creature  indeed,  as  different  from  the  common 
caricature  as  a  black-and-white  drawing  from  the 
warm  colours  of  nature. 


CHAPTER   VII 

RELIGIOUS  LIFE  AND  THOUGHT 

IN  nothing  does  it  behoove  the  critic  of  German 
life  to  exercise  more  circumspection  than  in 
his  generalisations  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
Mention  has  been  made  of  the  variety  of  race  to 
be  found  within  the  pale  of  the  Empire,  and  this 
racial  variety  implies  also  confessional  variety. 
Of  the  entire  population  of  the  country  the 
Protestants  number  nearly  two-thirds,  ;  rather 
over  one-third  are  Roman  Catholics  ;  and  about 
one  and  a  quarter  per  cent,  (or  well  over  half 
a  million)  are  Jews.  One  religious  division  of 
the  population,  which  occupies  so  conspicuous 
a  place  in  Anglo-Saxon  countries,  is  entirely 
insignificant  in  Germany, —  that  of  the  Protestant 
Nonconformists.  These  exist,  but  in  feeble  num- 
bers, and  their  churches  are  recruited  almost 
exclusively  from  the  working  classes.  It  is 
noticeable  that  in  some  States  Protestantism  and 
Catholicism  are  strikingly  localised.  In  Prussia, 
for  example,  the  strongholds  of  the  former  are 

142 


Religious  Life  and  Thought   H3 

Brandenburg,  Pomerania,  East  Prussia,  Schles- 
wig-Holstein,  Hanover,  Hesse-Nassau,  and  the 
province  of  Saxony,  while  Catholicism  has  the 
upper  hand  in  the  Rhine  Province,  Posen,  West- 
phalia, and  the  Upper  Silesia.  In  Bavaria  the 
Catholics  number  nearly  three-quarters  of  the 
entire  population,  and,  in  the  South,  Protestants 
are  few  and  far  between.  Saxony,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  almost  solidly  Protestant,  though  the 
royal  family  is  Catholic.  Other  States  in  which 
Protestantism  is  in  the  ascendant  are  Oldenburg, 
Wurtemberg,  and  Hesse,  while  Catholicism  is 
the  religion  of  the  majority  in  Baden  and  Alsace- 
Lorraine.  The  Jews  are  most  numerous-  -rela- 
tively to  population-  -in  the  cities  of  Berlin  and 
Hamburg,  where  they  form  five  per  cent,  of  the 
whole,  and  least  numerous  in  Saxony,  where 
they  are  only  one  in  four  hundred. 

The  domain  of  religion  is  one  which  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Empire  leaves  severely  alone, 
for  beyond  guaranteeing  to  all  citizens  freedom 
of  conscience  in  religious  beliefs- -a  guarantee 
which  is  only  partially  discharged- -it  allows 
the  various  States  to  manage  their  ecclesiastical 
concerns  as  they  like.  Each  State  has  its  own 
Established  Church,  either  Protestant  or  Catholic, 
and  in  some  States  several  mutually  antagonistic 
Churches  are  endowed.  In  Prussia  the  Protes- 
tant, Roman  Catholic,  and  Old  Catholic  Churches 
are  subsidised,  and  in  other  States  the  Jewish 


144  German  Life 

Church  is  supported  as  well.  It  is  an  odd  ar- 
rangement, which  leads  to  odd  contradictions. 
Thus,  in  Baden,  State  patronage  and  help  are 
given  to  one  Church  which  upholds  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Reformation  and  one  which  op- 
poses them  ;  to  Catholics  who  accept  the  dogma 
of  papal  infallibility  and  Catholics  who  repudiate 
it  ;  and,  as  a  crowning  proof  of  impartiality,  to 
a  religious  system  which  rejects  altogether  the 
Christian  basis  common  to  the  other  three  en- 
dowed Churches.  It  is  needful  to  remember, 
however,  that  even  the  Protestant  State  Church 
is  not  a  homogeneous  body.  It,  too,  is  divided 
into  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  sections,  though, 
of  course,  the  members  of  both  accept  the  com- 
mon description,  "Evangelical."  The  division, 
which  is  less  acutely  emphasised  now  than  form- 
erly, is  a  matter  of  sacramental  interpretation. 
The  Lutherans  accept  the  doctrine  of  the  Real 
Presence  known  as  consubstantiation,  while  the 
Reformed  Church,  following  the  Swiss  reformer 
Zwingli,  attach  to  the  Eucharist  a  purely  sym- 
bolical meaning  ;  and  in  Prussia  this  is  the 
Church  of  the  vast  majority  of  Protestants.  It 
is  noteworthy  that  the  only  Churches  in  Ger- 
many which  are  episcopal  are  the  Catholic  and 
Free  Methodist,  the  latter  a  small  body  of  quite 
modern  introduction. 

Not  only  are  Churches  liberally  endowed  by 
the  State,  but  the  State  takes  religion  under  its 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    145 

wing  to  an  extent  which  an  Englishman  will 
find  it  difficult  to  credit.  In  Protestant  States 
the  sovereign  is  summits  episcopus,  and  in  theory 
presides  over  the  Supreme  Consistory,  whose 
appointment  rests  with  him,  or,  by  royal  dele- 
gation, with  the  Minister  of  Public  Worship. 
Even  over  the  Catholic  Church  a  large  degree  of 
control  is  exercised  in  return  for  State  endow- 
ment. Thus,  in  Prussia,  save  in  the  Rhenish 
provinces,  royal  confirmation  is  necessary  to  the 
investiture  of  both  archbishops  and  bishops. 
Before  the  ratification  of  his  election  a  prelate 
must  take  a  special  and  solemn  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  King,  declaring  that  he  will  be  "  submis- 
sive, faithful,  and  obedient  to  his  Royal  Majesty 
of  Prussia  (and  his  lawful  successors  in  the  gov- 
ernment) as  my  most  gracious  King  and  Sover- 
eign, promote  his  welfare  according  to  my 
ability,  prevent  injury  and  detriment  to  him, 
and  particularly  endeavour  carefully  to  cultivate 
in  the  minds  of  the  clergy  and  people  under  my 
episcopal  care  a  sense  of  reverence  and  fidelity 
towards  the  King,  love  for  the  Fatherland, 
obedience  to  the  laws,  and  all  those  virtues 
which  in  a  Christian  denote  a  good  citizen,  and 
I  will  not  suffer  any  clergy  subject  to  me  to  teach 
or  act  in  a  contrary  spirit.  In  particular,  I  vow 
that  I  will  not  support  any  society  or  association, 
either  at  home  or  abroad,  which  might  endanger 
the  public  security,  and  will  inform  his  Majesty 


10 


146  German  Life 

of  any  proposals  made  either  in  my  diocese  or 
elsewhere,  that  might  prove  injurious  to  the 
State,"  etc. 

The  foregoing  form  of  the  Catholic  episcopal 
oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Crown  was  adopted  in 
1887,  on  the  conclusion  of  the  famous  struggle 
between  the  State  and  the  Romish  Church  in 
Prussia,  known  as  the  Kulturkampf,  one  inci- 
dent of  which  was  the  enactment  of  the  civil 
marriage.  The  echoes  of  the  storm  caused  by 
this  measure — which  was  introduced  in  Prussia 
in  1874,  and  in  the  Empire  in  1875 — have  not 
even  yet  quite  died  away.  The  Government  of 
the  day  found  itself  on  that  occasion  in  strange 
company,  for  its  only  cordial  allies  were  the 
democratic  and  free-thinking  parties.  The  Ul- 
tramontanes  fought  against  the  law  with  all 
the  bitterness  of  men  jealous  for  ecclesiastical 
prerogatives,  but  the  Conservatives  also  cordially 
disliked,  and  to  a  large  extent  openly  opposed, 
the  innovation,  as  being  the  beginning  of  a 
dangerous  course  of  secularisation  whose  end 
no  one  dare  predict.  "  The  necessary  conse- 
quence of  a  religionless  civil  marriage,"  wrote 
a  leading  organ  of  the  Church-Conservative 
party  at  the  time,  "  will  be  a  religionless  school, 
for  we  cannot  imagine  how  anyone  can  hope  to 
preserve  a  Christian  school  when  the  way  is 
being  so  carefully  prepared  for  modern  heathen- 
by  the  institution  of  the  civil  marriage. 


Religious  Life  and  Thought   147 

Moreover,  with  that  modern  heathenism  the 
monarchy  and  the  divinely  ordained  sover- 
eignty will  certainly  be  incompatible.  Indeed, 
let  the  Christian  marriage  go,  and  we  know  not 
what  will  remain  in  the  future."  Events  have 
entirely  falsified  this  and  similar  doleful  predic- 
tions. Though  the  institution  of  the  civil  mar- 
riage is  still  regarded  with  disfavour  by  large 
sections  of  Protestants,  as  well  as  by  the  entire 
Catholic  population,  it  would  not  be  right  to 
attribute  to  it  any  diminution  of  Church  influ- 
ence amongst  the  people.  The  State  has  done 
nothing  to  discourage  ecclesiastical  marriage  as  a 
voluntary,  yet  decorous  and  desirable  ordinance, 
supplementary  to  the  ceremony  prescribed  by  the 
law,  and  the  Church  has  not  spared  any  effort  to 
discountenance  on  the  part  of  its  adherents  satis- 
faction with  the  civil  rite.  In  Westphalia,  to  take 
one  of  the  most  favourable  illustrations,  over 
ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the  marriages  between 
Protestants  are  ratified  by  the  rites  of  the  Church, 
and  though  in  Berlin  only  two-thirds  of  the 
marriages  receive  the  Church's  benediction,  the 
reason  is  the  widespread  infidelity  amongst 
the  working  classes,  who  formerly  ridiculed  the 
religious  office  to  which  the  law  compelled  them 
to  submit,  where,  indeed,  they  did  not  prefer 
irregular  marriage  to  the  recognition  of  the 
Church's  claim  to  interfere  in  their  domestic 
arrangements. 


148  German  Life 

In  Prussia  the  clergy  receive  State  patronage 
in  the  most  practical  of  ways,  for  a  considerable 
part  of  their  emoluments  comes  from  the  public 
treasury.  To  the  income  which  accrues  to  a 
benefice  locally  by  endowments  and  otherwise, 
is  added  what  is  called  a  "dotation'  from  the 
State,  rising  from  ^80.  Quite  recently  some 
important  alterations  came  into  force  in  con- 
nexion with  these  dotations.  Marked  inequali- 
ties in  income  were  diminished,  and  minimum 
stipends  were  fixed,  while  the  ecclesiastical 
parishes  were  made  the  administrators  of  all  en- 
dowments, and  at  the  same  time  were  made  re- 
sponsible for  the  due  payment  to  incumbents  of 
the  incomes  allotted  to  their  benefices.  One 
effect  of  this  change  is  to  divorce  the  clergyman 
from  the  glebe,  which  hitherto  he  has  often  cult- 
ivated on  his  own  account,  and  the  change, 
though  it  may  take  many  a  round  stick  from  a 
square  hole,  is  by  no  means  regarded  as  an  un- 
qualified advantage.  Prince  Bismarck  used  to 
say  that  had  he  the  power  he  would  let  the  pay- 
ment of  every  Minister  of  State  tc're  the  form  of 
a  moderate  estate.  This  he  would  enjoin  him  to 
cultivate  to  the  best  advantage,  with  a  summary 
"There,  make  the  most  you  can  of  it,  for  it  is 
all  you  will  get."  In  that  way,  he  argued,  the 
Minister  of  State — and  perhaps  it  was  the  head 
of  the  Treasury  he  had  most  in  mind — would 
think  more  sympathetically  of  his  brother  cult- 


cr 

H 


o 
o 

111 

X 


ui 

O 

1 

<r 


o 

al 

X 


Religious  Life  and  Thought   149 

ivators  of  the  soil,  and  of  taxpayers  in  general, 
for  a  community  of  interest  and  aim,  of  fortune 
and  misfortune,  would  exist  such  as  is  hardly 
possible  when  Ministers  are  paid  down  in  golden 
coins, — so  many  of  them  a  year,  whether  agri- 
culture and  industry  flourish  or  decay.  Unques- 
tionably much  of  the  sympathy  which  has 
knitted  the  rural  pastor  and  his  flock  together 
has  been  due  to  the  fact  that  both  have  lived  in 
vital  touch  with  Nature,  wooing  her,  studying  her 
moods  and  caprices,  wresting  from  her  health 
and  wealth,  so  that,  though  different  in  many 
respects,  their  daily  interests  were  largely  iden- 
tical. That  the  relationship  between  the  two 
will  be  improved  by  a  change  which  will  cut 
pastors  from  the  old  glebe-land  may  reasonably 
be  doubted. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  Church  attracts  to 
any  degree  the  best  elements  of  society.  The 
clergy  are  in  general  very  well  educated,  as  is 
inevitable,  since  the  candidates  for  pastoral  office 
must  pass  through  the  university,  like  all  other 
State  officials  of  the  higher  grades.  But  the 
Church  is  not  in  Germany  an  aristocratic  calling. 
The  professions  which  the  higher  classes  of  so- 
ciety particularly  feed  are  the  army,  the  superior 
branches  of  the  State  administrative  service,  and 
the  law  ;  and  the  Church  is  regarded  as  beneath 
notice.  An  examination  of  the  matriculations  at 
the  universities  of  Prussia  during  four  successive 


i5°  German  Life 

terms  shows  that  33  per  cent,  of  the  Protestant 
theological  students  were  the  sons  of  minor  offi- 
cials and  teachers,  20  per  cent,  were  the  sons  of 
clergymen,  14  per  cent,  sons  of  peasants,  13  per 
cent,  sons  of  manufacturers  and  artisans,  and 
only  6  per  cent,  sons  of  higher  State  and  munici- 
pal officials.  On  the  other  hand,  of  the  Catholic 
students  of  theology  29  per  cent,  were  the  sons 
of  peasants,  29  per  cent,  sons  of  officials  and 
teachers  of  the  lower  grades,  and  22.6  per  cent, 
sons  of  artisans  and  manufacturers. 

So  far  is  Prussia  from  adopting  the  theories  of 
religious  equality,  which  are  mere  commonplaces 
in  most  countries,  that  not  only  are  Church  rates 
for  the  maintenance  of  public  worship  levied 
indiscriminately  on  entire  communities,  but 
churches  are  still  built  out  of  municipal  funds. 
By  an  old  decree  (dated  1573)  of  the  Elector  John 
George,  forgotten  until  it  was  resuscitated  by  a 
needy  Church  Council,  it  is  provided  that  where 
the  funds  needed  for  the  building  and  repair  of 
churches  in  the  province  of  Brandenburg  cannot 
be  covered  by  the  existing  ecclesiastical  endow- 
ments of  the  parish  concerned,  the  municipality 
or  commune  (in  town  and  village  respectively) 
may  be  required  to  provide  them.  Not  long  ago 
a  Berlin  church  needed  enlargement,  and,  relying 
upon  this  decree,  the  congregation  called  on  the 
Municipal  Council  to  make  a  contribution  of 
^"5500  towards  the  cost.  That  body,  which  is 


Religious  Life  and  Thought   151 

permanently  Radical,  and  has  always  been 
distinguished  by  a  peculiar  antipathy  against 
churches,  declined  ;  but  the  question  coming 
before  the  highest  court  in  the  land,  decision 
was  given  in  favour  of  the  claim,  and  a  payment 
was  made,  much  to  the  disgust  of  the  mayor 
and  corporation.  Had  this  sixteenth-century 
decree  failed,  the  church  could  have  fallen  back 
upon  one  of  later  date,  for  there  is  still  in  legal 
force  a  Royal  Order  of  King  Frederick  I.  (1702) 
which  commands  that  :  "Should  churches  or 
churchyards  need  to  be  built  or  repaired,  every 
inhabitant  and  subject  of  every  place,  whatever 
his  religion,  shall  help  with  all  industry,  and 
shall  readily  pay  the  proportion  that  may  be  re~ 
quired  of  him."  Prussia  received  the  gift  of  a 
constitution  half  a  century  ago  ;  but  while  be- 
stowing upon  the  nation  many  new  civic  rights, 
it  did  not  relieve  it  of  old  obligations,  and  that 
of  church  building  is  one  of  the  most  galling  to 
the  modern  free-thinker.  In  spite  of  Electoral 
Decrees  and  Royal  Orders,  however,  it  is  ques- 
tionable whether  the  notorious  dearth  of  churches 
from  which  Berlin  so  long  suffered  would  have 
been  removed  but  for  the  pious  disposition  of 
the  present  Emperor.  During  his  short  reign 
more  churches  have  been  built  in  the  capital 
than  during  all  the  preceding  ninety  years  of  the 
century,  and  every  one  was  sorely  needed.  Not 
only  so,  but  the  Church-Extension  movement  is 


152  German  Life 

progressing  every  year  towards  the  ideal  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities,-  -  the  provision  of  a 
Protestant  State  Church  for  every  twenty-five 
thousand  of  the  inhabitants.  The  fact  that  these 
churches  have  to  a  large  extent  been  built  by 
•private  subscription  may  be  taken  as  a  proof 
that,  in  Berlin  at  least,  the  old  spirit  of  depend- 
ence upon  the  State  is  in  this  domain  giving 
way  to  self-help  and  self-reliance. 

The  State  patronage  of  religion  means  other- 
wise a  good  deal  more  in  Germany  than  in  Eng- 
land. It  is  the  theory  of  the  law  that  every 
Protestant  is  a  member  of  the  State  Church, 
unless  he  have  formally  seceded,  which  is  a  legal 
proceeding  ;  and  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  do 
not  lose  sight  of  this  fact.  It  happens  in  the 
provinces  that  parishioners  who  systematically 
neglect  public  worship,  or  are  found  associating 
themselves  with  schismatical  or  heterodox  move- 
ments, are  warned  by  the  heads  of  the  Church, 
and  in  the  event  of  continued  contumacy  are 
struck  off  the  list  of  members,  and  so  are  de- 
prived of  the  right  of  voting  in  the  ecclesiastical 
affairs  of  the  parish.  The  yearly  secessions 
from  the  Church  make  nowadays  a  respectable 
total,  but  it  is  noticeable  that  a  great  change  has 
taken  place  in  the  character  of  the  ''Dissent' 
which  prevails  in  Germany.  Half  a  century 
ago  the  "Dissident'  who  withdrew  from  the 
National  Church  did  so  from  superfluity  instead 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    153 

of  paucity  of  religious  scruples  ;  it  was  his  con- 
scientious objection  to  State  establishments,  or 
such  establishments  on  the  existing  basis,  which 
caused  him  to  go  out  into  the  wilderness.  In 
modern  times  the  Dissident  is  generally  a  free- 
thinker of  a  particularly  outspoken  and  arrogant 
kind,  who  publicly  emphasises  his  rejection  of 
the  Christian  religion  by  announcing  his  with- 
drawal from  the  Church.  The  law  is,  however, 
very  jealous  of  any  indignity  offered  either  to  the 
Church  or  to  reJigion  in  public  speech  or  writing, 
and  it  is  an  indictable  offence  to  attack  or  to 
agitate  against  either  in  an  offensive  way.  And 
yet,  in  spite  of  the  powerful  State  support  which 
it  is  able  to  command  and  is  ever  ready  enough 
to  employ,  it  would  be  idle  to  pretend  that  the 
influence  of  the  Protestant  Church  is  as  great  as 
might  fairly  be  expected.  In  the  rural  districts 
its  position  is  uniformly  strong,  but  in  the  towns 
it  is  far  from  proportionate  to  its  opportunities. 
The  working  classes  largely  distrust  it,  from  a 
belief  that  it  has  allowed  itself  to  become  the 
handmaid  of  a  political  system,  and  the  middle 
classes  have  fallen  to  a  great  extent  under  the 
spirit  of  indifferentism  which  sprang  up  when 
the  Church  lost  in  strength  and  vigour,  and 
failed,  owing  to  lack  of  expansiveness,  to  respond 
to  the  new  demands  made  upon  it  by  the  modern 
growth  of  urban  populations,  and  thus  ground 
has  been  lost  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  regain. 


154  German  Life 

It  is  none  the  less  remarkable  how  strong  the 
hold  which  the  festivals  of  the  Church  year  still 
maintain  upon  all  classes  alike.  In  no  other  coun- 
try do  these  festivals  more  partake  of  the  character 
of  national  observances  ;  and  many  a  man  who 
professes  to  have  shaken  himself  loose  from 
ecclesiastical  associations  unconsciously  pays 
homage  to  the  Church  and  the  religion  he  dis- 
dains by  the  heartiness  with  which  he  keeps  up 
some,  at  least,  of  the  commemorations  of  the 
Church's  calendar.  Christmas  is  emphatically 
the  national  festival  of  the  year,  and  with  it  no 
other  can  be  named  in  the  same  breath.  The 
holiday  lasts  three  days,  and  it  is  a  holiday  in- 
deed. Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land,  work  of  every  kind  is  suspended  by 
universal  consent,  and  Germany  becomes  young 
again,  as  it  throws  itself,  with  an  enthusiasm 
which  English  people  would  hardly  understand, 
into  the  enjoyment  of  the  gracious  amenities  of 
the  season.  The  festival  begins  on  Christmas 
Eve,  or  Holy  Eve  (Heiliger  Abend),  as  it  is  pret- 
tily called,  and  the  fall  of  dusk  is  a  sign  for  the 
emptying  of  the  streets,  the  end  of  the  day's 
work  and  traffic,  and  the  gathering  of  every 
family  round  its  own  Christmas-tree.  Heilig' 
Abend  would  have  no  meaning  for  Germans, 
either  old  or  young,  without  the  presence  in  the 
home  of  this  simple  symbol.  The  tree  is  adorned 
with  glittering  tinsel  and  numberless  tapers,  and 


Religious  Life  and  Thought   155 

round  the  table  on  which  it  stands  are  arranged 
the  presents  which  are  so  liberally  exchanged 
by  the  members  of  the  family  at  this  time. 

The  Christmas-tree  has  gone  out  of  fashion  in 
some  countries,  but  in  Germany  it  occupies  a 
place  in  the  domestic  affections  which  no  lapse 
of  years  and  no  aggression  of  the  modern  spirit 
seem  to  threaten.  National  customs  have  been 
changed  and  modified  in  a  hundred  directions, 
but  the  green  Tannenbaum  defies  all  innovation, 
and  is  found  in  the  old  place  of  honour  in  every 
German  household  when  Christmas  Eve  comes 
round.  And  not  only  there  :  for  the  spirit  of 
good-will  which  the  season  evokes  shows  itself 
in  no  more  timely  or  more  welcome  way  than 
by  supplying  the  treasured  fir  tree  to  hospital, 
barracks,  workhouse,  gaol,  and  wherever  else 
Christmas  Eve  would  be  a  melancholy  mockery 
but  for  such  thoughtful  charity.  Pass  into  the 
cemeteries  and  churchyards,  too,  and  you  will 
even  see  miniature  Christmas-trees  rising  out  of 
the  snow  on  every  side,  in  token  that  the  dead 
are  not  forgotten  in  this  time  of  universal  happi- 
ness. To  me,  this  strange  and  profound  devo- 
tion to  the  Christmas-tree  has  always  seemed 
one  of  the  gentlest,  as  well  as  the  most  reverent, 
traits  of  the  German  character. 

Passion  Week,  called  in  Germany  Still  Week 
(Stille  Woche),  or,  more  usually,  Lamentation 
Week  (Charwoche) ,  is  the  principal  churchgoing 


156  German  Life 

season  of  the  year,  and  Good  Friday  brings 
more  communicants  to  the  altar  than  any  other 
day.  Another  solemn  festival  to  which  great 
public  importance  is  attached  is  the  Commemo- 
ration of  the  Dead,  or  Todtenfest,  which  falls  on 
the  last  Sunday  in  the  Church  year,  and  corre- 
sponds to  the  Feast  of  All  Saints  in  the  Catholic 
calendar.  Upon  this  day  and  upon  Good  Friday, 
alone  in  the  whole  year,  the  law  requires  the 
suspension  of  all  public  amusements.  The 
churches  hold  services  from  morning  until  even- 
ing, so  vast  are  the  numbers  who  throng  to 
devotions  ;  and  as  black  is  the  universal  colour 
— of  altar  and  pulpit,  which  are  hung  in  crape, 
as  well  as  of  personal  attire — the  picture  pre- 
sented is  decidedly  depressing.  The  public 
graveyards  are  similarly  crowded  by  pious  visit- 
ors, for  it  is  a  day  of  common  mourning,  and 
for  their  consolation  the  clergy  usually  give  ad- 
dresses in  the  open  air  at  frequent  intervals. 
Prayer  and  Penance  Day,  which  falls  variously, 
is  still  a  serious  institution  in  several  of  the  Ger- 
man States,  though  it  is  no  longer  universal. 
The  institution  goes  back  to  the  time  when  Ger- 
many suffered  from  the  horrors  of  war,  pest, 
famine,  and  other  ills  which  civilisation  and 
sanitation  together  have  succeeded,  in  recent 
times,  in  keeping  more  or  less  within  check.  In 
Saxony,  for  example,  it  dates  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the  Elector 


or 
ui 

z 

3       S 
U.       s: 


I 
0. 

H 

co 
ul 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    157 

John  George  the  First  issued  a  decree  ordering 
the  observance  of  three  hours  of  prayer  and 
penance  every  week, --an  infliction  which  the 
impious  Saxons  succeeded  in  time  in  reducing 
to  one  complete  day  in  twelve  months.  In 
Prussia,  national  penance  has  only  been  done 
since  1813,  when  Frederick  William  III.  was 'still 
uncertain  as  to  the  issue  of  his  desperate  struggle 
to  escape  from  the  clutches  of  Napoleon. 

Residence  abroad  is  a  good  corrective  of  re- 
ligious narrowness  ;  and  if  English  people  trav- 
elled more,  and  observed  more  during  their 
travels,  instead  of  keeping  together  as  though 
in  mortal  dread  of  the  unknown  foreigner,  the 
fiction  would  soon  cease  to  be  popular  that  true 
religion  and  undefiled  is  only  to  be  found  in  one 
very  circumscribed  part  of  Europe.  It  does  not 
take  long  to  convince  the  peripatetic  student  of 
men  and  manners  that,  in  spite  of  the  different 
ecclesiastical  names  and  doctrines  which  people 
take  to  themselves,  Western  mankind  is  pretty 
much  the  same  in  all  the  essential  elements  of 
character.  Religion  may  be  professed  with 
greater  or  less  insistence,  and  religious  rites  be 
observed  with  varying  regularity  and  devotion  ; 
yet  look  only  below  the  surface  of  things,  and 
the  same  human  excellencies  and  shortcomings, 
•the  same  graces  and  blemishes,  the  same  su- 
preme virtues  and  sordid  vices,  are  found  every- 
where, though  naturally  not  in  the  same 


158  German  Life 

proportions.  It  may  be  conceded  that  the  re~ 
ligious  spirit  is  not  shown  in  Germany  in  all  the 
ways  to  which  an  Englishman  may  be  accus- 
tomed, yet  it  would  be  the  sorriest  cant  to  speak 
of  Germany  as  irreligious  on  that  account.  Less- 
ing  said  he  "always  found  the  best  Christians 
among  the  people  who  knew  least  about  theo- 
logy" ;  and  those  who  most  intimately  know 
the  nation  of  whom  Lessing  wrote  will  under- 
stand best  what  he  meant.  The  stay-at-home 
Englishman  is  apt  to  confuse  religion  with 
churchgoing,  and,  setting  up  that  convenient 
test,  he  concludes  that  he  has  reason  both  to  be 
satisfied  with  himself  and  to  justify  a  censorious 
criticism  of  other  nations.  But  the  test  is  en- 
tirely arbitrary  and  fallacious.  The  scrupulously 
regular  churchgoer  is  not  less  common  in  Ger- 
many than  in  England  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
you  will  meet  an  abundance  of  the  most  excel- 
lent people,  of  pure  and  faultless  life,  even  of 
deeply  religious  character,  who  very  rarely  go  to 
church,  and  who  would  rather  be  sentenced  to 
prison  than  to  live  through  a  Sunday  as  the 
Englishman  knows  and  loves  it.  The  explana- 
tion is,  that  what  I  may  call  the  method  of  re- 
ligion is,  not  the  same  in  the  two  countries,  and 
the  most  striking  difference  consists  in  the 
greater  subjectivity  of  religion  in  England.  In 
Germany,  religion  is  a  matter  more  of  the  intel- 
lect than  the  heart  ;  hence  it  is  less  regarded  as 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    159 

a  personal  matter,  and  the  religious  instinct  is 
far  less  egoistic.  The  Englishman  professes 
religion  more,  yet  without  being  more  really 
religious.  Above  all,  he  treats  religion  with  a 
freedom  and  a  familiarity  which  shock  the  Ger- 
man of  good  taste.  To  the  latter,  religion  is 
surrounded  by  more  mystery  and  more  dignity  ; 
it  never  becomes  a  commonplace  thing  ;  rather 
it  is  viewed  as  something  distant,  outside  and 
above  him  ;  it  is  a  sacred  table  of  the  law,  to  be 
enshrined  in  a  suitable  casing  of  formality  and 
solemnity,  and  not  to  be  dragged  profanely  into 
the  ordinary  haunts  of  life.  As  a  German  friend 
who  knew  England  well  once  put  it:  "We 
decorously  keep  our  religion  always  on  the 
shelf  ;  you  take  yours  down  every  day,  and 
handle  it  without  respect." 

It  is  remarkable,  too,  that  this  jealousy  for  the 
"  dignity  "  of  religion  may  characterise  the  free- 
thinker quite  as  much  as  the  normal  believer. 
I  remember  how  on  one  occasion  a  doctor  of 
my  acquaintance,  an  avowed  and  cheery  ag- 
nostic, who  would  have  resented  any  pretension 
on  the  part  of  Church  and  clergy  to  concern 
themselves  in  the  slightest  degree  for  the  wel- 
fare of  his  soul,  protested  furiously  in  the  hear- 
ing of  an  amazed  circle,  familiar  with  his  attitude 
towards  religion,  against  the  dramatic  repre- 
sentation of  the  Gospel  story  at  Oberammer- 
gau.  It  was  indecorous,  profane,  blasphemous  ; 


160  German  Life 

religion  should  not  be  parodied  in  any  such  way; 
it  was  a  scandal  to  the  Church  ;  the  law  should 
sternly  prohibit  such  unseemly  occurrences. 
And  yet  the  man  whose  feelings  were  thus 
most  painfully  outraged  by  a  spectacle  which 
to  the  majority  of  religious  minds  appeals  with 
the  profoundest  force,  prided  himself  on  his 
complete  emancipation  from  ecclesiastical  tradi- 
tions, and  was  wont  to  sum  up  his  religion  in 
the  old  German  proverb,  "  Thue  recht  und 
scheue  Niemand  !  '  ( ' '  Do  right  and  fear  no- 
body ! " )  It  was  one  of  many  instances  of 
unconscious  self-revelation  which  convinced  me 
that  behind  the  cultured  German's  airy  profes- 
sion of  scepticism  there  is  generally  a  spirit 
of  profound  reverence  for  religious  things --a 
reverence  which  here  no  doubt  missed  its  aim- 
and  often  a  genuine  religious  feeling  and  temper. 
The  characteristic  German  method  of  religion 
—  objectivity-  -I  never  knew  better  expressed 
than  by  the  way  in  which  the  public  news- 
papers treat  religious  questions  when  occasion 
requires  them  to  touch  a  theme  so  outside 
their  habitual  cogitations.  The  principal  Church 
festivals  of  the  year-  -Christmas,  Good  Friday, 
Whitsuntide,  the  Commemoration  of  the  Dead, 
and  Penance  Day --are  seldom  passed  over, 
even  by  the  most  secular  of  daily  journals, 
without  discussion,  in  thoughtful  editorial  arti- 
cles, of  the  religious  suggestiveness  of  the 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    161 

seasons.  And  the  odd  feature  of  these  religious 
essays  is  the  singular  detachment  of  the  writers. 
Christianity  is  gravely  considered  as  an  institu- 
tion but  newly  discovered,  which  it  is  the  edi- 
torial duty  to  make  known  to  the  world  with 
all  due  formality,  and  its  leading  doctrines  are 
exhaustively  explained  and  criticised  as  though 
nobody  had  ever  heard  of  them  before.  The 
following  passage  is  taken  as  an  illustration 
from  the  principal  Berlin  Radical  journal.  It 
sounds  crude  and  pedagogic,  and  yet  it  would 
read  strangely  in  the  editorial  columns  of  an  Eng- 
lish —  still  more  of  a  French  -  -  newspaper  given 
to  fighting  rough  political  battles  all  the  year 
round  : 

"The  content  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  as 
historical  investigation  has  recovered  it  from 
the  distorting  accretions  of  time,  was  the  com- 
mand to  love  God  with  undivided  heart,  and 
to  do  self-sacrificing  service  for  one's  brethren. 
Those  who  fulfilled  these  commands  were  given 
the  prospect  of  biiss,  of  the  complete  realisation 
of  their  wishes,  and  of  redemption  from  all  evil. 
Jesus  offered  Himself  as  the  helper  ordained  of 
God  to  proclaim  God  to  men,  and  to  guide  them 
to  Him.  He  offered  His  life  in  order  by  that 
sacrifice  to  ensure  to  all  the  forgiveness  of  sins." 

A  passage  like  this  (and  it  is  not  singular), 
characterised  by  such  refreshing  naivete  of 
thought  and  expression,  is  at  bottom  very 


1 62  German  Life 

significant  of  the  tone  of  educated  German  opin- 
ion. Christianity  is  less  a  personal  matter  bearing 
upon  life  and  conduct  —  for  rules  of  conduct  the 
educated  German  will  go  to  ethical  philosophy 
— than  a  profoundly  interesting  chapter  in  the 
history  of  civilisation,  to  be  studied  with  entire 
absence  of  mental  bias,  and  expounded  in 
laboured  treatises,  like  any  other  subject  of 
human  investigation. 

The  religious  instinct,  I  have  said,  is  less 
egoistic  in  Germany  than  in  England,  and  it 
should  not  be  difficult  for  English  people  to  ap- 
preciate this  difference,  for  it  is  strikingly  char- 
acteristic of  the  religious  systems  prevalent  in 
their  midst,  and  is  especially  seen  in  the  contrast 
presented  by  the  Anglican  and  Nonconformist 
Churches.  It  is  just  the  difference,  in  fact,  be- 
tween the  emphasising  of  reason  and  of  feeling 
in  religious  life,  between  the  austere  reserve 
which  the  former  imposes  and  the  indiscrimin- 
ate retailing  of  the  emotions  which  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  more  popular  expressions  of 
religion.  Nothing  could  better  illustrate  this 
deep-seated  diversity  than  a  comparison  of  the 
hymns  used  in  public  worship.  The  German 
Kirchenlieder  contain  none  of  that  painful  self- 
analysis,  that  morbid  introspection,  that  empty- 
ing out  for  public  gaze  of  the  longings  and 
strivings  of  the  soul,  for  what  they  are  worth, - 
in  a  word,  that  perpetual  assertion  of  self,  in  a 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    163 

spirit  so  humble  in  appearance,  yet  so  vain  and 
often  vainglorious  in  reality,  which  is  prominent 
in  English  hymns  of  a  certain  order.  "  All  great 
art  is  praise,"  says  John  Ruskin  ;  and  may  not 
the  same  be  said  of  true  religion  ?  Certainly 
the  ancient  chorals- -  most  of  them  over  two 
centuries  old,  and  hardly  any  less  than  one  - 
which  are  sung  in  the  churches  of  Germany 
would  seem  to  have  been  written  with  that  idea 
in  mind.  Many  of  these  likewise  express  the 
varying  moods  of  spiritual  experience,  yet  with- 
out spurious  self-abasement  on  the  one  hand,  or 
indecorous  self-exaltation  on  the  other,  but  the 
dominant  note  is  that  of  praise.  The  music  to 
which  these  hymns  are  sung  must  be  heard  in 
its  native  atmosphere  in  order  to  be  properly  ap- 
preciated. Here  the  place  and  the  personal  ele- 
ment are  everything, — the  plain  and  sombre,  yet 
impressive,  architecture  of  the  church,  solid  and 
stable,  like  the  German  character  itself  ;  the 
simple  yet  solemn  liturgy,  studiously  free  from 
ornate  accompaniment  ;  the  mass  of  worship- 
pers, singing  in  unison,  their  strong  and  mascul- 
ine utterance  wedded  to  the  rich  and  dignified 
harmonies  of  Martin  Luther  or  Johann  Cruger  ; 
all  this  in  the  traditional  way,  sanctioned  and 
hallowed  by  centuries  of  unchanging  usage. 
The  fastidious  ear  may  fancy  that  it  discovers  in 
German  church  -  singing  something  bald  and 
crude;  but  it  may  be  questioned  whether  any 


164  German  Life 

religious  spectacle  is  finer  and  more  impressive 
in  its  way  than  that  of  a  huge  congregation  of 
men,  women,  and  children,  packed  from  porch 
to  chancel,  and  then  tier  above  tier  from  floor  to 
rafters,  break  out  with  one  accord,  at  organ 
signal,  into  the  measured  cadence  of  some  old 
Reformation  choral. 

Ungrudging  tribute  must  also  be  paid  to  the 
sturdiness  and  resoluteness  of  the  Protestantism 
which  is  found  in  the  State  Churches  of  Lutheran 
Germany.  There,  at  any  rate,  the  principles  of 
the  Reformation  enjoy  all  the  old  respect,  rever- 
ence, and  loyal  attachment.  There  it  never  oc- 
curs to  a  Protestant  to  inquire  how  far  the 
doctrine  and  ritual  of  his  Church  may  be  modi- 
fied in  the  direction  of  pre-Reformation  obscur- 
antism without  forfeit  of  title  to  the  Protestant 
name,  much  less  to  resent  that  name  as  fallacious 
and  ignoble.  The  Protestant  State  Churches  of 
Germany  remain,  for  all  practical  purposes,  just 
as  Luther  left  them  after  he  had  set  the  national 
religion  in  order,- -a  mighty  organised  protest 
against  Rome.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  signifi- 
cant of  the  strength  of  Protestant  sentiment, 
that  although  the  Roman  Catholics  form  so  large 
a  section  of  the  population,  and  although  the 
State  has  for  this  reason  been  compelled,  as  a 
matter  of  political  expediency,  to  adopt  the 
principle  of  the  co-endowment  of  the  two  con- 
fessions, the  word  "compromise"  has  no  place  in 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    165 

the  Evangelical  vocabulary.  Protestantism  is 
Protestantism,  and  Catholicism  is  Catholicism  : 
so  it  seems  to  the  clear-thinking  German  mind, 
which  here  neither  temporises  nor  argues,  but 
holds  fast  to  the  ancient  ways. 

The  rationalism  which  is  met  with  in  Ger- 
many would  be  far  more  difficult  to  account  for 
were  it  isolated  in  appearance  and  confined  within 
certain  narrow  limits.  As  it  is  so  strong  a  char- 
acteristic of  German  thought,  and  is,  in  different 
degrees  and  forms,  common  to  all  classes,  there 
must  be  causes  which  operate  generally  and 
point  to  one  identical  origin.  It  should,  how- 
ever, be  borne  in  mind  that  all  rationalism  is  not 
rank  unbelief  ;  and  to  confuse  the  two  things, 
as  is  often  done,  is  both  misleading  and  unjust. 
Probably  the  strongest  predisposing  cause  of  the 
sceptical  tendency  of  the  German  mind  is  its  great 
and  almost  exaggerated  love  of  speculation  and 
criticism,  its  eagerness  of  inquiry,  its  passion  for 
interrogation.  "We  Germans  are  an  intensely 
critical  people,"  said  Prince  Bismarck  to  me  once 
in  a  conversation  on  political  questions;  "we 
always  find  something  to  find  fault  with,  some- 
thing that  might  be  done  better."  But  this  truly 
Hellenic  fondness  for  criticism  and  analysis --a 
proof  of  the  method  and  orderliness,  as  well  as 
the  acumen  and  curiosity  of  the  German  mind- 
extends  not  only  to  politics  :  it  operates  in  every 
direction  of  thought  ;  and  if  religion  has  been 


1 66  German  Life 

specially  chosen  to  bear  the  dry  light  of  reason 
the  explanation  is  simply  that  it  offers  infinitely 
more  scope  for  criticism  and  speculation  than  any 
other  subject  of  human  investigation.  If  anyone 
is  sceptical  as  to  the  effect  of  this  hypercritical 
attitude  towards  religion,  let  him  refer  to  the 
labels  that  German  rationalists  attach  to  them- 
selves in  the  census  returns,  which  require 
specific  information  as  to  a  man's  beliefs  or  dis- 
beliefs. There  he  will  find  mention  of  Ration- 
alists, Materialists,  Naturalists,  Humanists, 
Atheists,  Deists,  Free-Thinkers,  Monotheists, 
Pure  Reasoners,  Pantheists,  Secularists,  Theo- 
sophists,  Mystics,  and  Cogitants,  not  to  speak  of 
people  who  claim  to  have  their  "  Own  religion." 
How  many  of  these  classifications  would  be  dis- 
covered by  an  English  enumeration  of  the  peo- 
ple, did  it  take  cognisance  of  their  religion  ? 
Then,  too,  the  widespread  rejection  of  the  cur- 
rent formularies  of  the  Christian  religion  is  also 
due  to  hyper-culture,  which  almost  inevitably 
creates  a  conscious  or  unconscious  predilection 
for  the  religious  ideals  of  classical  antiquity. 
Arnold  Runge  professed  to  the  close  of  his  life  to 
deplore  that  Christian  doctrine  and  Christian 
ideals  had  dethroned  the  mythology  of  the  old 
Germans,  and  he  deliberately  avowed  the  con- 
viction that  German  culture  had  as  a  consequence 
been  thrown  back  a  millennium  and  a  half.  The 
calculation  is  perhaps  rather  too  exact  to  suggest 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    167 

that  reasoned  justifications  of  so  startling  a  pro- 
position were  attempted,  butRunge's  attitude  it- 
self is  far  from  being  rare  even  to-day.  The 
Greek  temper  has  thoroughly  pervaded  the  Ger- 
man spirit,  and  has  done  much  to  mould  German 
culture  and  character.  The  tendency  begins  in 
the  Gymnasium,  the  tone  of  which  may  be  dis- 
tinctly moral  but  is  seldom  religious.  It  was 
not  without  reason  that  the  Emperor  William  II. 
complained  at  the  outset  of  his  reign  that  the 
higher  schools  of  the  land  were  not  turning  out 
Germans,  but  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  though 
the  head  and  foot  of  their  offence  in  the  Em- 
peror's eyes  lay  in  the  wrong  national  and  politi- 
cal bias  given,  the  same  objection  holds  good  in 
regard  to  the  mental  habit  encouraged  in  those 
schools  in  the  sphere  of  religious  belief.  The 
influences  which  surround  the  young  gymnasi- 
asts  are  pretty  certain  to  be  more  or  less  ration- 
alistic ;  and  when  one  thinks  how  strong  is  the 
attachment  which  usually  binds  together  the 
German  teacher  and  his  pupils,  it  is  not  hard  to 
understand  that  the  latter  readily  imbibe  their 
tutor's  convictions  and  prejudices. 

That  rationalism  is  rife  at  the  universities  will 
be  expected,  nor  could  it  well  be  otherwise  when 
the  dominant  note  of  German  theology  of  the 
past  fifty  years  is  remembered.  Names  like 
Strauss,  Baur,  Ritschl,  and  Hase  are  sufficient  to 
denote  the  revolutionary  character  of  modern 


1 68  German  Life 

theological  criticism,  and  though  at  present  we 
may  seem  to  be  in  the  current  of  a  reaction 
against  the  too  daring  speculation  and  generalisa- 
tion of  the  past,  the  work  of  these  men,  and  of 
others  like  them,  has  borne  its  natural  fruit.  One 
of  the  best  known  of  German  scholars,  who 
adorns  an  influential  chair  at  a  distinguished 
university- -his  name  it  would  for  obvious  rea- 
sons be  improper  to  mention-  -assured  me  that 
his  known  religious  orthodoxy  had  proved  a 
source  of  serious  offence  to  many  of  his  col- 
leagues, who  had  made  it  an  obstacle  in  the  way 
ofhis  ascent  in  academic  office.  Orthodoxy  in  a 
theologian  might  be  tolerated,  but  in  the  occu- 
pant of  any  other  chair  it  was  regarded  as  a  mark 
of  weakness.  In  the  Church  itself  the  same 
spirit  is  to  some  extent  found.  In  many  pulpits 
of  the  State  Church  orthodox  Christian  doctrine 
gives  place  to  simple  ethical  homily,  though  it 
may  be  questioned  whether  this  is  any  less  to 
the  taste  of  the  hearers.  An  educated  free- 
thinker had  been  induced  to  go  and  hear  a  pop- 
ular, yet  at  the  same  time  orthodox,  Berlin 
clergyman  of  great  influence.  "  How  did  you 
like  him?"  was  asked,  when  the  novel  experi- 
ence was  over.  "Well  enough  ;  but  he  cannot 
be  a  believer."  "And  why?"  "Because  the 
church  was  full."  That  was  a  few  years  ago, 
and  religious  observance  in  Berlin  has  become  a 
much  more  serious  thing  in  the  interval,  yet  the 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    169 

incident  illustrates  the  tradition  which  has  grown 
up  —  fostered  by  the  rationalistic  movement - 
that  culture  and  orthodoxy  must  somehow  be 
antagonistic.  No  doubt  the  rationalism  of  the 
pulpit  would  find  more  frequent  expression  did 
not  the  Ministries  of  Public  Worship  and  the 
Consistories  between  them  rule  both  Church  and 
clergy  with  a  strong  hand.  Overt  heterodoxy 
in  the  clerical  office  is  viewed  with  grave  dis- 
pleasure, and  the  pastor  who  is  guilty  of  it  runs 
the  risk  of  deprivation.  Nowadays  the  principal 
bone  of  contention  in  ecclesiastical  circles  is  the 
Apostles'  Creed.  No  small  part  of  the  clergy 
would  either  abolish  the  Creed  from  the  liturgy 
or  make  its  use  optional.  The  liberal  movement 
has  been  strengthened  by  the  action  of  Professor 
Harnack,  of  the  Berlin  University,  who  shocked 
the  orthodox  party  a  few  years  ago  by  openly 
questioning  certain  dogmas  of  the  Creed.  His 
conduct  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Prus- 
sian Minister  of  Public  Worship  by  a  host  of 
ecclesiastical  consistories,  councils,  and  synods, 
as  well  as  by  Conservative  party  conferences,  and 
that  official  was  implored  to  consider  seriously 
whether  the  legitimate  bounds  of  academic  liberty 
had  not  been  transgressed.  Had  the  orthodox 
party  had  their  way,  the  offending  professor  and 
all  his  sympathisers  would  have  been  removed 
from  their  offices,  but  the  Minister  appealed  to 
declined  to  respond  to  the  charitable  challenge. 


170  German  Life 

It  is  often  made  a  reproach  to  the  Protestant 
Church,  as  an  organ  of  Christian  doctrine,  that 
the  attacks  which  it  has  had  to  bear,  and  the 
dangers  to  which  it  has  been  exposed  have 
come  from  within  rather  than  from  without. 
This  cannot  be  denied,  and  it  is  impossible  that 
it  should  be  otherwise.  Of  necessity,  an  ecclesi- 
astical organisation  established  to  express  the 
Protestant  conceptions  of  religion  must  accept 
the  risks  along  with  the  advantages  of  the  Pro- 
testant position,  and  one  of  these  risks  is  the 
spirit  of  free  and  unfettered  inquiry,  with  the 
consequences,  good  or  ill,  to  which  it  may  lead. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  owes  its  strength 
and  stability  largely  to  two  things, — to  the  pres- 
sure which  it  claims  to  exert  upon  its  adherents 
in  the  matter  of  belief  and  to  its  machinery  for 
giving  effect  to  this  pressure.  Its  teachings  are 
declared  to  be  infallible  ;  therefore  no  opposition, 
no  argument,  no  appeal  can  be  possible.  The 
work  of  the  believer  is  half,  three-quarters,  done 
for  him,  and  it  is  his  business  simply  to  ratify, 
by  silent  and  unquestioning  assent,  the  inflexible 
fiat  of  his  Church  as  represented  by  his  spiritual 
superiors.  Each  functionary  in  this  wonderful 
hierarchy  is  within  his  province  omnipotent. 
Above  all  stands  the  Pope,  who,  speaking  ex 
cathedra,  utters  the  words  of  inviolable  truth, 
against  which  there  can  be  no  appeal.  The 
bishops  come  next,  receiving  their  authority  and 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    i;r 

command  direct  from  the  pontiff,  rendering  to 
him  absolute  obedience,  yet  in  their  turn  speak- 
ing with  the  voice  of  law  to  their  priests,  and 
obeyed  by  these  with  the  same  unquestioning 
fidelity.  Finally,  the  priest  occupies  amongst 
his  flock  a  position  as  authoritative  in  its  way  as 
is  that  of  the  bishop  above  him.1  Such  a  ma- 
chinery is  perfect  enough  for  the  work  it  is 
intended  to  do,  but  that  work  is  notoriously 
dissimilar  from  the  task  which  a  Protestant 
Church  system  sets  itself.  There  have  been  few 

1  Vide  the  Times,  August,  1900:  "CARDINAL  VAUGHAN  ON 
CRITICISM  OF  THE  HOLY  SEE. — The  annual  conference  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Young  Men's  Societies  of  Great  Britain  is  be- 
ing held  this  week  at  Chester.  Cardinal  Vaughan,  writing  to 
apologise  for  his  absence,  said  :  '  These  are  days  in  which 
loyalty  to  the  Church  should  be  the  keynote  of  every  associa- 
tion of  Catholic  laymen.  This  loyalty  is  often  put  to  the  test 
by  the  intellectual  pride  and  licence  of  thought  and  criticism 
which  characterise  modern  society  in  England.  There  are 
Catholics  who  permit  themselves  to  read  and  discuss  whatever 
is  printed,  if  only  it  falls  under  their  notice  and  is  written  in  an 
attractive  style.  In  their  presumption  and  ignorance,  without 
careful  intellectual  training  and  without  any  necessity,  they 
seem  to  deem  themselves  a  match  against  the  most  subtle  argu- 
ments and  the  false  presentation,  or  half-presentation,  of  facts 
which  they  have  never  mastered  or  even  heard  of.  They 
criticise  the  conduct  of  the  Holy  See  as  though  they  had  a 
mission  to  rescue  the  government  of  the  Church  from  failure. 
These  public  criticisms  and  attacks  upon  the  Church  by  child- 
ren professing  to  belong  to  her  are  proofs  of  an  uncatholic  and 
disloyal  spirit.  .  .  .  The  shepherds  are  over  the  sheep,  and 
not  the  sheep  and  lambs  over  the  shepherds.' ; 


172  German  Life 

periods  in  its  history  when  Protestantism  has 
failed  to  recognise  that  its  best  chance  of  effect- 
ively competing  with  the  hard  and  fast  regime 
of  Catholicism  is  by  emphasising  its  opposite,  - 
the  easy  yoke  of  voluntary  acquiescence.  The 
Catholic  Church  might  truthfully  claim,  were  it 
disposed,  that  it  alone  of  great  religious  organi- 
sations is  able  to  secure  uniformity  of  doctrine 
and  belief.  But  the  answer  of  the  Protestant 
Church  would  be  that  such  uniformity  is  neither 
its  end  nor  its  ideal,  and  in  no  country  can  this 
be  less  the  case  than  in  Germany,  the  classic 
land  of  metaphysical  speculation  and  unfettered 
scientific  investigation.  Granted  that  the  Pro- 
testant Church  of  Germany  may  with  justification 
be  accused  of  latitudinarianism  ;  yet  the  obvious 
reason  is  that  liberty  is  to  it  a  vital  atmosphere. 
Let  free  thought  and  inquiry  cease  in  its  midst, 
and  both  the  dignity  and  the  historical  meaning 
of  Protestantism  will  disappear. 

It  is,  however,  amongst  the  working  classes 
of  the  towns  that  rationalism  is  found  in  its 
crassest  forms.  Here  it  is  not  merely  a  matter 
of  reservation  on  this  point  of  faith  and  individ- 
ual interpretation  on  that,  but  of  outspoken 
infidelity  and  materialism.  Thanks  to  the  per- 
sistent agitation  of  Social  Democracy,  which  has 
been  encouraged  by  the  political  and  social 
conditions  which  environ  the  lives  of  the  masses, 
and  by  the  past  unsympathetic  attitude  of  both 


Religious  Life  and  Thought 


73 


the  Church  and  the  cultured  classes  towards 
labour,  the  urban  work-people  of  Germany  have 
in  a  body  transformed  themselves  into  a  resolute 
and  uncompromising  party  pledged  to  the  sub- 
version, if  may  be,  of  the  existing  economic, 
political,  and  religious  systems.  His  Socialism 
is  the  true  religion  of  the  average  German  work- 
ing-man, and  Socialism  involves  for  him  not 
merely  the  advocacy  of  a  new  industrial  order, 
but  the  practical  rejection  of  all  theistic  belief. 
A  Court  of  Industry  which  had  been  formed  in 
Barmen  of  twelve  employers  and  the  same 
number  of  work-people,  for  the  investigation  of 
labour  disputes,  was  being  sworn,  when  seven 
of  the  work-people  declined  to  take  the  oath 
on  the  ground  that  "They  were  atheists,  and 
could  not  say,  '  So  help  me  God  ! '  They  agreed 
ultimately  to  repeat  the  usual  formula,  but  only 
on  the  understanding  that  their  action  signified 
merely  a  mechanical  asseveration  of  good  faith 
in  the  discharge  of  their  duty.  On  this  subject 
of  Socialism  and  irreligion,  I  cannot  do  better 
than  repeat  a  few  words  which  I  wrote  some 
years  ago,  for  they  need  no  modification.  "It 
is  not  in  the  domain  of  economic  doctrine  that 
the  influence  of  Social  Democracy  upon  the 
working  classes  of  Germany  has  been  most 
baneful.  Economic  theories  and  beliefs,  while 
they  must  more  or  less  find  expression  in  a 
man's  views  of  the  world,  and  especially  of 


i?4  German  Life 

social  relationships  and  institutions,  do  not  ne- 
cessarily touch  the  deepest  springs  of  life  and 
character.  Where  Social  Democracy  has  done 
most  harm  is  in  giving  to  the  labouring  classes 
an  estimate  of  life  and  of  religion  which  cripples 
morality,  and  may  make  it  well-nigh  an  impos- 
sibility. Its  science  is  taken  from  Biichner, 
Hackel,  and  Darwin  ;  its  philosophy  from  Scho- 
penhauer, Feuerbach,  and  Hartmann  ;  and  so 
far  as  theology  is  regarded  at  all,  it  is  seen 
through  the  media  of  Strauss,  Bruno  Bauer,  and 
Renan.  Into  a  crucible  of  imperfect  knowledge 
and  dishonest  synthesis  these  unpromising,  and 
in  unskilled  hands  dangerous,  elements  have 
been  placed,  and  the  product  has  been  a  ration- 
alism of  the  crudest,  nay,  grossest  character. 
That  Social  Democracy  should  be  hostile  to  the 
Church  is  explicable  enough,  if  lamentable  ;  and 
if  the  leaders  of  Socialism  had  stopped  at  denunci- 
ations of  ecclesiastical  expressions  of  Christian- 
ity, their  action  would  not  have  been  beyond 
remedy.  What  has  been  done,  however,  is  to 
take  away  from  a  large  part  of  the  working 
classes  all  respect  for  religion,  all  supernatural 
faith,  all  recognition  of  supreme  and  objective 
ethical  laws.  The  Socialist  Congress  of  Erfurt 
did,  indeed,  affirm  the  maxim  that  '  Truth,  jus- 
tice, and  morality  should  be  recognised  as  the 
guiding  principles  of  all  members,  both  towards 
one  another  and  towards  all  humanity,  without 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    i?5 

regard  to  race,  religion,  or  nationality.'  But 
whether  truth,  justice,  and  morality  will  flourish 
on  atheistic  soil  remains  to  be  demonstrated. 
The  experiment  is  being  tried,  and  it  is  a  haz- 
ardous one." 

It  will  not  be  amiss  to  refer  here  to  a  subject 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  many  of  the  most 
thoughtful  Germans,  has  a  close  connexion  with 
religion,  and  which,  in  any  event,  is  a  part  of  the 
broader  question  of  morality.  I  refer  to  the  old 
problem  of  the  frequency  of  suicide  in  the  king- 
dom of  Saxony.  The  problem  has  attracted  close 
attention  for  many  years,  yet,  unfortunately, 
without  any  very  satisfactory  conclusions  being 
arrived  at,  for  almost  the  only  result  of  investi- 
gation is  to  discover  the  difficulties  which  beset 
any  attempt  to  fathom  the  mystery.  It  is  a 
notorious  fact  that  in  Saxony  the  suicidal  mania 
is  far  commoner  than  in  any  other  part  of 
Europe,  and  the  most  various  speculations  have 
been  advanced  as  to  the  explanation  of  this 
unenviable  circumstance.  Some  scientific  in- 
quirers have  ascribed  it  to  peculiarities  of  national 
character,  connected  with  the  blending  of  Wend- 
ish  with  German  elements,  and  especially  to  the 
tendency  to  extinction  which  appears  to  be 
strong  in  the  Wendish  blood,  which  tendency 
takes  the  active  form  of  self-extermination. 
Other  explanations  which  have  been  suggested 
are  :  (i)  The  military  system,  (2)  the  modern 


1 76  German  Life 

economic  stress  and  strain,  (3)  poverty,  and  (4) 
materialistic  views  of  life.  As  to  the  first,  how- 
ever, Saxony  does  not  occupy  a  peculiar  posi- 
tion ;  and  if  universal  military  service  were 
directly  responsible  for  its  abnormal  number  of 
suicides,  the  other  German  States  should  have 
the  same  reputation,  which  is  not  the  case  ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  proved  fact  that 
suicide  in  the  army  is  declining.  The  second 
and  third  factors  seem  more  probable,  though 
here,  again,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  while  the  ma- 
terial condition  of  the  masses  on  the  whole  is 
decidedly  improving,  though  still  poor  enough, 
suicide  is  on  the  increase.  Moreover,  there  is 
as  dire  poverty  out  of  Saxony  as  in  that  State  : 
nowhere  is  there  more  than  in  the  Polish  dis- 
tricts of  Prussia  and  the  rural  districts  of  North 
Germany  generally,  where  suicide  is  not  an 
obvious  consequence.  Further,  it  must  be  noted 
that  it  is  not  overwhelmingly  the  poor  who  thus 
seek  oblivion,  for  nearly  every  class  of  society 
contributes  its  share  to  this  doleful  death-list. 
The  final  cause  advanced- -the  prevalence  of 
materialistic  beliefs,  tending,  as  these  do,  to  the 
depreciation  of  human  life --has  undoubtedly 
a  great  influence,  though  it  is  questionable  whe- 
ther Saxony  is  in  reality  more  irreligious  than 
the  rest  of  the  Empire.  A  Saxon  physician  of 
eminence  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  sui- 
cidal tendency  might  be  attributed  to  a  "certain 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    177 

excitable  sense  of  honour  in  the  character  of  the 
people,  and  to  their  unhealthy  advanced  culture  ; 
but  it  shows  quite  clearly  that  the  possession  of 
the  pure  Evangelical  teaching  does  not  preserve 
our  people  from  moral  aberration." 

Probably  the  explanation  last  suggested  con- 
tains, on  the  whole,  the  strongest  elements  of 
probability.  Yet  it  seems  to  me  that  there  are 
still  other  influences  to  which  sufficient  weight 
has  not  hitherto  been  attached.  They  are  the 
nervous,  highly  strung  temperament,  the  vein 
of  sentimentality  and  romance,  and  the  impuls- 
iveness which  are  present  in  so  marked  a  de- 
gree in  the  German  character,  though  to  these 
must  be  added  a  sensitiveness  of  personal  hon- 
our which  is  apt,  often  on  quite  trivial  grounds, 
to  place  death  before  actual  or  apprehended  dis- 
grace. A  German  will  see  romance  in  suicide, 
where  a  cooler-blooded  Englishman  will  see  only 
dismal  tragedy,  and  the  former  will  rush  to  his 
end  while  the  latter  is  systematically  arguing  out 
the  question,  "To  be,  or  not  to  be?"  debating 
it  from  all  sides,  and  asking  himself  whether  so 
extreme  and  irretrievable  a  step  is  really  worth 
while.  Extraordinary  mediate  causes  of  suicide 
occur  in  both  countries,  but  Germany,  in  this 
respect,  has  the  uniquer  record  of  the  two.  Some 
years  ago  there  was  exhibited  in  a  Berlin  Art 
Exhibition  a  strange  painting  bearing  the  title, 
"Tired  of  Life'  (Die  Lebensmftderi), — a  picture 


12 


178  German  Life 

which  could  hardly  have  been  produced  by  any 
but  a  German  artist.  Two  figures — a  youth  and 
a  maiden — bound  fast  together  by  rope,  were 
shown  in  the  act  of  throwing  themselves  from  a 
jetty  into  a  lake.  The  scene  was  depicted  with 
complete  realism  and  exactness, — the  expression 
upon  the  faces  reflected  the  emotions  which  the 
occasion  would  suggest  ;  the  attitude  of  the 
lovers  was  severely  "  naturalistic"  ;  the  very 
water  seemed  to  be  consciously  anticipating  its 
prey.  To  the  ordinary  healthy,  non-German 
mind,  the  picture,  as  a  picture,  suggested  the 
ludicrous  ;  for  whatever  pathos  it  might  other- 
wise have  suggested  was  effectively  destroyed 
by  the  fact  that  the  girl's  hat  was  a  con- 
spicuous triumph  of  the  milliner's  art,  and  the 
rope  prosaically  new.  One  might  seriously  philo- 
sophise upon  the  artistic  mood  which  had  sent 
the  painter  to  so  strange  a  motive,  but  the  pict- 
ure itself,  to  an  Englishman,  seemed  grotesque. 
Yet,  before  this  canvas  crowds  of  people — for 
the  most  part  of  impressionable  years --stood 
every  day,  from  morning  till  evening,  as  long  as 
the  exhibition  was  open.  The  Berlin  Press  de- 
voted endless  columns  of  description  and  moral- 
lising  to  it,  and  it  was  for  a  time  the  fashionable 
theme  of  conversation.  Not  only  so,  but  the 
imagination  of  the  painter  was  shortly  afterwards 
translated  into  actual  fact,  for  the  very  tragedy 
which  he  depicted  was  enacted  in  a  neighbouring 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    179 

lake,    and  the  same  thing  has   occurred   more 
than  once  since  then. 

How  strongly  impulse  and  the  sense  of  hon- 
our together  act  in  disposing  to  suicide  may  be 
judged  by  the  fact  that  of  a  year's  deaths  of 
women  in  Prussia  from  this  cause,  over  thirteen 
per  cent,  were  certified  as  having  been  due  to 
remorse,  shame,  and  fear  of  punishment.  That 
premature  death  is  largely  resorted  to  owing  to 
discontent,  morbidness,  and  pessimism  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  of  a  year's  suicides  amongst  men 
in  Prussia,  fourteen  per  cent,  were  declared  to 
be  due  to  "general  weariness  of  life,"  and  this 
did  not  take  account  of  the  far  larger  number 
due  to  want,  lack  of  employment,  and  similar 
rational  causes.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  greatest 
number  of  suicides  takes  place  at  an  age  in  which 
the  victims  have  had  opportunity  of  tasting  life, 
and  of  finding  it  either  good  or  bad.  An  analy- 
sis of  the  suicides  in  Saxony  during  many  years 
showed  that  0.9  per  cent,  fell  to  the  age  of  14 
years  and  under  ;  10.2  per  cent,  to  14-21  years  ; 
15.3  per  cent,  to  21-30  years  ;  34.9  per  cent,  to 
30-50  years  ;  31.6  per  cent,  to  50-70  years  ;  5.4 
per  cent,  to  70  years  and  over  ;  the  remaining 
1.7  per  cent,  being  of  unknown  age.  If  pub- 
lished statistics  are  any  guide,  the  number  of 
German  suicides  which  could  not,  by  any  ex- 
aggeration of  terms,  or  any  rational  use  of 
evidence,  be  attributed  to  mental  aberration  is 


i8o  German  Life 

particularly  large.  In  England,  we  know,  coron- 
ers' juries  are  specially  empanelled  to  declare 
every  suicide  to  be  the  result  of  "  temporary  in- 
sanity," the  healthy  and  convenient  view  pre- 
vailing that  nobody  in  his  senses  would  take  his 
own  life, — an  assumption  which,  from  one  point 
of  view,  is  probably  correct  enough.  In  Ger- 
many the  motive  of  suicide  is  not  so  lightly  set- 
tled. If  possible,  a  reason  is  discovered  and 
assigned,  of  course  on  circumstantial  evidence, 
and  in  the  official  statistics  the  acknowledged 
cases  of  mental  disturbance  (or  "  disease,"  as  the 
legal  form  goes)  bear  but  a  small  proportion  to 
the  whole.  No  considerations  of  false  delicacy 
prevent  suicide  from  being  openly  attributed  to 
drunkenness,  or  vice,  or  shame,  when  facts 
point  to  such  a  conclusion. 

Attempts  have  often  been  made  to  establish 
comparisons  and  contrasts  between  the  different 
States  in  point  of  morality,  criminality,  and  the 
like,  from  the  standpoint  of  religious  confession; 
but  it  has  proved  a  difficult  and,  indeed,  an  un- 
profitable task.  As  between  the  Protestant  and 
Roman  Catholic  sections  of  the  community  it 
has  been  pointed  out  that  while  the  numerical 
ratio  is  roughly  two  to  one,  there  are  consider- 
ably more  convictions  for  criminal  offences 
amongst  the  Catholics  than  the  Protestants.  But 
it  would  be  futile  and  unfair  to  draw  from  this 
bald  fact  any  general  moral  conclusion  in  favour 


Religious  Life  and  Thought    181 

of  one  Church  to  the  disfavour  of  the  other. 
The  simple  truth  is  that  the  principal  zone  of 
criminality  in  Germany  happens  to  be  cotermin- 
ous with  those  portions  of  the  country  —  the 
east  and  north-east  of  Prussia,  as  well  as  a  por- 
tion of  Bavaria-  -in  which  the  population,  while 
overwhelmingly  Roman  Catholic,  is  at  the  same 
time  relatively  low  in  the  intellectual  and  social 
scale.  To  show  how  misleading  any  such  com- 
parative figures  would  be,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
mention  the  fact  that  there  are  isolated  portions 
of  Protestant  Germany  which  rival  the  most 
criminal  districts  of  Catholicism,  and,  conversely, 
Catholic  districts  which  rank  with  the  most  law- 
abiding  spheres  of  Protestant  influence.  To 
draw  any  such  religious  comparison  would  be  to 
ascribe  to  ecclesiastical  differences  characteristics 
which  are  in  reality  the  result  of  racial  and  social 
moments. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

WOMAN  AND  THE  HOME 

IN  a  country  where  public  life  is  capable  of  so 
much  further  development,  and  where  civil 
and  political  franchises  and  functions  which  in 
other  lands  have  come  to  be  regarded  as  the 
rights  of  the  common  citizen  are  so  grudgingly 
bestowed  upon  men  of  even  the  highest  intelli- 
gence, it  is  no  wonder  that  the  position  of 
women  is  not  an  ideal  one.  Germany  has, 
however,  a  woman's  question  and  a  woman's 
movement,  and  the  progress  which  they  have 
made  during  recent  years  is  noteworthy,  con- 
sidering the  prejudices  and  practical  difficulties 
which  have  had  to  be  confronted  and  overcome 
at  every  step  of  the  way.  If  anything  could 
convince  the  sceptical  that  the  German  woman 
stands  not  where  she  did,  it  will  be  the  fact  that 
within  the  past  year  there  has  been  established 
in  Berlin  a  successful  Women's  Club,  open  to 
aristocratic  members,  of  whom  six  hundred  are 
solemnly  pledged  to  meet  for  discussion  and 

182 


Woman  and  the  Home        183 

social  intercourse  once  a  week;  and,  neverthe- 
less, there  are  those  who  doubt  that  the  world 
moves. 

Times  have  changed,  and  with  them  modes 
of  thought,  since  a  famous  German  educationist 
long  ago  justified  the  higher  education  of  wo- 
men on  the  ground  that  "  A  German  husband 
ought  not  to  be  bored  by  the  intellectual  short- 
sightedness and  narrowness  of  the  wife  at  his 
domestic  hearth."  Nowadays  the  case  for  wo- 
men's higher  education  is  supported  by  stronger 
and  higher  reasons,  and  chiefly  by  the  fact, 
which  no  longer  has  to  plead  for  recognition, 
that  "  woman  is  not  undeveloped  man,  but 
diverse,"  and  so  has  a  life  of  her  own  to  live,  an 
individuality  of  her  own  to  cultivate,  and,  if 
may  be,  to  realise.  From  this  discovery  has 
proceeded  the  woman'.s  movement  everywhere. 
Yet  Germany  is  better  off  than  most  countries, 
in  that  it  has  long  been  in  possession  of  abund- 
ant and  excellent  facilities  for  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  its  girls.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beneficial 
results  of  the  hard-and-fast  German  principle  of 
placing  all  schools-  -even  those  in  private  hands 
-under  direct  State  control,  that  a  high  standard 
is  universal,  and  the  education  which  girls  of 
the  middle  and  higher  middle  class  may  obtain, 
even  in  small  provincial  towns,  is  both  liberal 
and  inexpensive.  The  idea  of  sending  girls  of 
this  class  into  life  with  a  so-called  education 


1 84  German  Life 

which  scarcely  outdistances  the  restricted  instruc- 
tion of  second-rate  urban  elementary  schools  — 
an  education  in  which  mathematics  stands  merely 
for  arithmetic,  English  for  the  geography  and  a 
smattering  of  the  history  of  a  single  country  and 
the  bare  proprieties  of  grammar,  and  the  study 
of  languages  for  a  questionable  capacity  to  turn 
bad  English  into  worse  French  -  -  would  fill  the 
instructress  of  a  German  "higher  daughters' 
school '  with  unspeakable  horror.  She  would 
see  to  it-  -  or  the  State  in  her  stead,  were  she  by 
any  possibility  indifferent  -  -  that  her  girls  thor- 
oughly mastered  the  political  and  literary  history 
of  their  own  country  and  the  outlines,  at  least, 
of  European  history  and  literature  as  well  ;  that 
they  were  versed  in  Greek  and  Roman  as  well  as 
Scandinavian  mythology  ;  that  French  and  Eng- 
lish were  understood  and  spoken  almost  as 
mother-tongues, — for  the  Germans  in  general  are 
heaven-born  linguists, —  and  that  algebra  and 
Euclid  were  studied  as  systematically  as  in 
English  grammar  schools  with  a  mathematical 
leaning. 

When  German  girls  from  the  middle  class  up- 
ward leave  school  it  is,  in  fact,  with  a  breadth 
of  culture  which  would  astonish  those  who  are 
satisfied  with  the  definition  of  that  much-abused 
word  "education'  which  passes  current  unre- 
buked  in  England.  In  later  life,  comparing  rank 
with  rank,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the 


Woman  and  the  Home       185 

German  woman  is  not  on  the  whole  better  in- 
formed and  better  read  than  the  man,  though 
the  latter's  mental  equipment  may  bear  more 
visible  traces  of  the  formal  schoolgrinding  which 
has  been  undergone.  He  will  never  forget  his 
Latin  and  Greek, — so  thoroughly  are  they  drilled 
into  him  from  the  Sexta  of  his  Gymnasium  up- 
ward,— but  he  is  one-sided,  and  the  distractions 
and  disturbances  of  practical  life  not  seldom  put 
a  period  to  his  further  mental  development. 
The  German  girl,  who  in  the  course  of  time  takes 
upon  herself  domestic  responsibilities,  first  in 
her  parents'  home,  and  later  in  one  of  her  own, 
has  also  to  contend  with  influences  which  are  in 
general  opposed  to  zeal  for  study  ;  but  all  the 
spare  moments  she  has  are  devoted  to  books. 
To  these  she  instinctively  flies  in  her  leisure, 
just  as  the  man  resorts  to  his  newspaper  ;  and 
in  her  case  there  are  special  compensating  cir- 
cumstances which  encourage  the  studious  temp- 
erament. The  very  detachment  from  public 
life  and  concerns  which  training  and  convention- 
ality have  imposed  upon  German  women,  while 
it  unquestionably  narrows  their  range  of  thought, 
has  the  effect  of  throwing  them  upon  their  own 
resources,  and  so  it  happens  that  what  they  lose 
in  knowledge  of  the  world  and  in  wider  human 
interests  they  gain  in  the  cultivation  of  intellectual 
and,  still  more,  of  aesthetic  tastes,  in  the  posses- 
sion and  enjoyment  of  a  quieter  outlook  on  life 


1 86  German  Life 

and  a  happier  feeling  of  contentment  with  their 
lot.  For  the  German  woman  is  neither  restless 
nor  ambitious,  or,  at  least,  her  one  ambition  is 
to  see  the  household  over  which  she  rules  orderly, 
harmonious,  and  attractive  to  those  for  whom 
it  exists.  But  this  does  not  mean  that  she  is  of 
necessity  a  sort  of  domestic  drudge.  The  idea 
most  frequently  associated  amongst  English  folk 
with  the  German  Hausfrau  is  an  absolute  tra- 
vesty of  the  reality  ;  for  the  picture  which  the 
word  calls  to  the  mind  of  the  average  person  is 
that  of  a  middle-aged  matron,  dowdily  dressed, 
busying  about  between  kitchen  and  dining-room, 
with  a  bunch  of  keys  at  her  waist  and  the  odour 
of  dried  herbs  clinging  to  her  vestments.  The 
picture  is  altogether  imaginary,  and  having  served 
its  day  and  generation  faithfully  it  might  well 
be  discarded,  with  some  other  curious  fictions 
about  the  German  household, — as  that  sausage 
is  the  staple  food  of  the  rich  and  Sauerkraut  of 
the  poor. 

It  is  true  that  the  German  housewife  does  her 
full  share  of  the  domestic  tasks — and  sometimes 
a  little  more — and  justly  prides  herself  on  the 
fact  that  her  knowledge  of  the  ins  and  outs  of 
the  menage  extends  to  the  slightest  detail,  and 
that  every  single  punctilio  of  household  duty  is 
regulated  by  herself.  But  this  is  only  one,  and 
the  most  commonplace,  expression  of  the  per- 
sonal virtues  which  are  behind,  and  which  make 


Woman  and  the  Home        187 

up  her  character, — industry,  thorough-goingness, 
fidelity,  and,  above  all,  a  truly  religious  apprecia- 
tion of  and  devotion  to  the  responsibilities  and 
sanctities  of  home  life  and  home  government. 
Not  only  so,  but  the  German  Hausfrau  is  an 
illustration  of  the  perfect  compatibility  of  the 
most  admirable  domestic  Tilchtigkeit  (which 
means  thoroughness  and  efficiency  combined) 
with  intellectual  tastes  and  accomplishments, 
which  latter  are  not  less  real  because  no  wider 
sphere  for  their  display  is  sought  than  the  limited 
circle  of  home  companionships.  The  idea  that 
the  "homeliness"  which  is  so  generally  and  so 
truly  attributed  to  her  implies  the  quintessence 
of  domesticity  is  a  ludicrous  fallacy.  The  history 
of  German  letters,  German  science,  German  art, 
is  full  of  shining  examples  of  wives  and  mothers 
who,  without  making  noise  or  parade  in  the 
world,  without,  indeed,  being  heard  of  outside 
their  own  homes  and  social  circles,  have,  in  their 
own  quiet  way,  played  a  powerful  part  as  her- 
alds of  culture  and  progress.  The  life  of  the 
heroic  widow  of  Jakob  Andrea,  the  famous  theo- 
logian, will  never  cease  to  point  its  inspiring 
moral.  She  was  left  penniless  with  a  young 
family  to  provide  for  as  best  she  might.  Sym- 
pathising friends  advised  her  not  to  quarrel  with 
fate,  but  to  make  up  her  mind  at  once  to  bring 
up  her  children  in  a  lowly  sphere  of  life, — her 
boys  as  artisans,  and  her  girls  as  useful  money- 


1 88  German  Life 

earners  of  any  kind.  Calling  her  lads  together, 
she  tore  off  her  widow's  veil  in  their  sight,  as 
she  said  :  "  Even  though  I  should  have  to  sell 
this  veil,  I  will  educate  you  in  your  father's 
place  ;  I  will  work  for  you,  and  starve  for  you, 
if  only  you  are  true."  She  did  it,  and  German 
theology  gained  a  still  greater  Andrea  in  the  son 
Johann  Valentin,  who  rose  high  in  the  Lutheran 
Church.  Such  Hausfrauen  German  households 
have  never  lacked, — women  who  have  cultivated 
a  serene  ideal  of  family  life,  who  have  not 
grudged  the  undivided  bestowal  of  their  gifts 
upon  the  right  training  of  their  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, and  who  have  never  been  impatient  to 
share  the  wider  concerns  and  less  tranquil  ambi- 
tions of  men,  so  long  as  their  own  supremacy 
in  the  home  was  undisputed. 

Nevertheless,  it  would  be  idle  to  pretend  that 
German  women  are  in  general  willing  to  fall  in 
with  the  lot  which  contented  their  mothers  and 
grandmothers  ;  and  the  problem  which  exercises 
the  minds  of  the  advocates  of  emancipation,  is 
how  to  secure  to  them  a  legitimate  place  and  influ- 
ence outside  the  home  without  any  sacrifice  of 
the  high  national  ideal  of  home  and  of  woman's 
position  in  it.  Where  women  have  suffered 
hitherto  is  in  the  refusal  to  them  of  proper  scope 
for  the  exercise  of  their  capacities.  They  might 
be  educated  to  the  highest  nitch,  but  they  have 
been  tolerated  in  few  of  the  spheres  which  men 


Woman  and  the  Home       189 

have  immemorially  set  apart  for  the  special  play 
of  their  own  activities.  It  is  probable  that  the 
average  male  would  rub  his  eyes  in  surprise 
were  he  asked  to  believe  that  the  position  of  his 
wife  and  sisters  is  not  in  every  respect  what  Di- 
vine Providence  intended  it  to  be.  In  his  view, 
the  home  is  the  stage  upon  which  women 
should  play  the  mild  drama  of  her  life,  and  out 
of  the  home  she  is  out  of  her  true  province.  In 
the  words  of  the  proverb,  "The  house  is  wo- 
man's world,  the  world  is  man's  house."  Yet 
to  suggest  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  a  con- 
scious repression  of  woman  would  be  absurd. 
Marriage  may  often  fall  short  of  an  ideal  com- 
panionship, as  elsewhere,  but,  so  far  as  devotion 
and  fidelity  go,  the  German  husband  is  as  good 
as  any  other,  if  not  always  quite  as  polished  and 
punctilious  as  he  might  be,  and  the  idea  that  a 
system  of  domestic  tyranny  exists  in  Germany 
does  not  call  for  serious  notice.  That  in  some 
directions  higher  views  of  women  are  necessary 
in  Germany  it  would  be  mere  affectation  to  deny. 
In  the  country,  and  especially  in  the  poorer  and 
more  distinctly  pastoral  States,  women  take  a  far 
harder  share  in  outdoor  agricultural  work  than  is 
fair  to  their  sex.  They  plough  and  harrow  side 
by  side  with  the  men ;  they  dig  the  potatoes,  as 
well  as  plant  them ;  they  carry  the  manure  afield 
in  huge  baskets  of  appalling  weight;  and  they 
thrash  the  corn  ;  not  to  speak  of  work  of  a 


190  German  Life 

lighter  and  more  permissible  character.  In  the 
towns,  too,  it  is  a  common  thing  to  see  women 
drawing  small  carts  along  the  streets.  Some- 
times they  only  assist  the  dogs,  which  form  the 
real  team,  yet  frequently  they  bear  the  whole 
burden  alone.  The  physical  strain  may  not  in 
general  be  exhausting,  yet  at  best  one  feels  that 
woman  is  not  in  her  right  place  drawing  carts, 
however  diminutive,  of  coal  or  wood  or  fruit, 
along  the  public  streets,  where  well-dressed  men 
pass  to  and  fro,  conscious  of  a  superiority  to  em- 
ployment so  humble  and  degrading. 

In  the  educated  circles  of  society  things  are 
rapidly  improving.  There  the  influences  that 
make  for  the  confinement  of  woman's  life  within 
the  old  narrow  bounds  are  mainly  the  antiquated 
traditions  and  social  conventionalities  which  both 
sexes  share  alike,  and  these  are  being  overturned 
and  broken  through.  Unexampled  efforts  are 
nowadays  made  to  meet  the  intellectual  needs  of 
girls  and  young  women.  The  higher  schools 
have,  as  I  have  said,  at  all  times  been  excellent, 
but  these  have  been  supplemented  in  some  of 
the  larger  towns  by  Gymnasia,  conducted  on 
the  lines  of  the  best  Gymnasia  for  boys.  The 
"  sweet  girl  graduates  with  their  golden  hair ' 
have  also  made  an  appearance.  The  majority  of 
the  universities  have  had  the  enlightenment  to 
open  their  doors  to  women,  and,  while  permis- 
sion to  acquire  the  doctor's  title  is  rarely  granted, 


Woman  and  the  Home       191 

facilities  for  studying  side  by  side  with  men  are 
being  increasingly  afforded.  That  women  ap- 
preciate the  privilege  thus  offered  is  proved  by 
the  hearty  response  which  they  have  made  to  it. 
The  number  of  female  students  at  the  universities 
in  the  winter  term  of  1899-1900  was  644,  of 
whom  406  fell  to  Berlin,  and  the  rest  to  Breslau, 
Bonn,  Gottingen,  Halle,  Kiel,  Freiburg,  Strass- 
burg,  Konigsberg,  Marburg,  Erlangen,  Tubingen, 
and  Wurzburg.  Naturally,  the  great  majority 
of  the  fair  hearers  attach  themselves  to  the 
faculty  which  cultivates  the  widest  intellectual 
interests,- -that  of  philosophy, — while  medicine 
comes  next  in  their  esteem,  then  law,  and  Berlin 
has  even  had  a  lady  student  of  theology. 

Encouraged  by  this  friendly  movement  in  the 
seats  of  learning,  women  are  more  and  more 
pushing  their  way  in  professional  life.  Time 
was  when  paid  occupations  were  eschewed  as 
declassing  women  of  a  certain  social  position. 
The  lady  author  worked  in  secret  for  years  be- 
fore she  dare  make  herself  known,  and  more 
years  had  yet  to  pass  before  the  public  extended 
to  her  a  respectful  hearing.  Nowadays  there  is 
hardly  a  department  of  letters  in  which  she  has 
not  laid  claim  to  recognition.  Not  only  so,  but 
the  authoress  of  to-day  is  a  recognised  power, 
for  success,  which  condones  everything  and 
justifies  everything,  has  taken  all  point  from  the 
satire  and  all  sting  from  the  contumely  which 


192  German  Life 

were  formerly  levelled  against  her.  Not  long 
ago,  one  of  the  well  known  German  illustrated 
magazines  offered  prizes  for  the  best  three  stories 
to  be  submitted  in  competition,  and  when  the 
award  of  the  eminent  jurors  was  examined  it 
was  found  that  all  three  went  to  women,  though 
the  works  compared  numbered  a  thousand.  In 
a  less  degree  women  have  won  distinction  in  the 
world  of  art,  while  in  the  practical  calling  of 
medicine  they  have  taken  a  place  which  is 
no  longer  contested.  Women  as  teachers  have 
always  been  numerous  enough.  They  are  to 
be  found  not  only  in  higher  girls'  schools,  but  in 
elementary  schools,  and  the  inducement  is  the 
greater  because  the  State  examination  is  in  every 
case  severe.  At  least  half  the  teachers  of  the 
municipal  higher  schools  for  girls  in  Berlin  are 
women,  and  almost  the  same  proportion  obtains 
in  the  elementary  schools.  Hospital  and  sick 
nursing  attracts  a  very  large  and  growing  num- 
ber of  women  ;  but  here  love  of  a  hard  and 
self-sacrificing  work  induces  at  least  as  much  as 
the  prospect  of  reward.  Lower  in  the  social  ranks 
there  is  great  rivalry  for  the  positions  of  book- 
keeper, typist,  telegraphist,  and  railway  ticket 
clerk,  but  the  last  two  offices  are  not,  save  in  a 
few  parts  of  the  country,  occupied  largely  by 
women.  Another  occupation  to  which  they 
have  turned  their  attention  is  that  of  public 
librarian,  and  in  Berlin  a  special  school  has  been 


Woman  and  the  Home       193 

formed  for  their  training  in  work  of  the  kind. 
Less  progress  has  been  made  in  the  State  service. 
It  is  only  recently  that  the  Governments  have 
taken  kindly  to  the  employment  of  women  in  the 
higher  branches,  though  in  Prussia,  Bavaria,  and 
elsewhere  women  are  now  appointed  assistant 
factory  inspectors,  and  as  such  are  charged  with 
the  supervision  of  industries  in  which  their  sex 
is  particularly  engaged. 

The  position  and  outlook  of  women  are  less 
satisfactory  in  public  life.  Philanthropy  and  re- 
ligion are  spheres  to  which  no  restriction  neces- 
sarily applies,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  there  are 
now  between  three  and  four  thousand  Women's 
Associations  (Frauenvereine)  pursuing  benevo- 
lent, mutual  improvement,  and  social  reform 
propagandism.  Participation  in  municipal  af- 
fairs, however,  is  absolutely  forbidden  them. 
They  may  not  vote  for  the  election  of,  still  less 
be  members  of,  public  bodies  of  any  kind.  Po- 
litically they  are  contemptuously  disregarded. 
It  is  never  certain  that  women  will  be  allowed 
by  the  police  to  attend  simple  political  gather- 
ings, for  the.  holding  of  which  sanction  has  been 
given.  It  continually  happens  that  such  gather- 
ings are  permitted  on  the  clear  understanding  that 
women  and  girls  shall  be  excluded,  and  also  chat 
meetings  of  the  kind  are  dissolved  by  the  police- 
men in  attendance  because  of  the  presence  of 
the  unenfranchised  sex.  In  passing,  it  is  note- 


194  German  Life 

worthy  that  not  a  few  women  of  education  and 
social  position  are  to  be  found  amongst  the 
hardest  workers  of  the  Socialist  party,  and  they 
have  taken  this  extreme  step  solely  out  of  sym- 
pathy with  the  lot  of  the  masses,  and  a  desire 
to  help  towards  its  amelioration. 

The  position  of  women  of  the  manual  work- 
ing classes  is  pretty  much  what  would  be  ex- 
pected from  the  political  disqualifications  from 
which  all  women  suffer.  The  opportunities 
of  coalition  open  to  them  are  very  limited.  It  is 
hard  enough  for  working-men  to  combine  for 
the  protection  of  mutual  interests,  but  the  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  such  combination  amongst 
women  are  generally  insuperable,  and  the  dis- 
covery that  women  have  joined  men's  industrial 
societies  has  frequently  led  to  the  dissolution  and 
prohibition  of  the  latter.  Even  where  working- 
women  are  permitted  to  unite  in  class  associa- 
tions, the  condition  is  strictly  imposed  that  there 
must  be  no  breath  of  politics,  or  the  favour  will 
be  cancelled.  An  announcement  of  this  kind  is 
not  uncommon  in  the  newspapers  :  "  The 
Women's  Union  of  •  —  has  been  declared  to  be 
a  political  organisation,  and  has  therefore  been 
dissolved  by  the  police."  And  why  ?  Most 
likely  because  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  the 
society  some  excitable  young  woman  has  un- 
guardedly made  a  remark  which  the  jealous  po- 
lice officer  in  attendance  has  construed  as  of  a 


Woman  and  the  Home       195 

political  character ;  and  what  is  not  political  in 
the  eyes  of  a  suspicious  policeman  ?  Of  nearly 
fifty  thousand  women  who  earn  their  livelihood 
in  Berlin  alone  by  manual  work,  only  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  have  been  organised  by  the 
Social  Democrats,  and  that  after  long  and  strenu- 
ous efforts,  while  all  the  orthodox  trade-unions 
in  the  country  have  not  yet  enrolled  that  number 
of  female  members..  Largely  owing  to  this  fail- 
ure to  draw  women  into  the  net  of  industrial 
combination,  their  position  on  the  labour  market 
is  unquestionably  a  profoundly  unhappy  one. 
The  wages  they  earn  are  miserably  small,  the 
conditions  of  their  employment  pay  far  too  little 
regard  to  their  sex  and  strength,  and  scanty  earn- 
ings and  unfavourable  surroundings  are  together 
responsible  in  some  trades  for  grave  moral  evils 
which  every  now  and  then  force  themselves 
upon  public  and  parliamentary  attention. 

One  of  the  most  significant  new  departures  in 
the  Socialist  agitation  is  the  extension  of  the 
movement  amongst  women  of  the  working  class, 
who  now  contribute  a  very  large  contingent  to 
the  party,  and,  as  might  be  expected,  belong  to 
its  most  uncompromising  section.  In  normal 
times  they  can  do  little  beyond  proclaiming  the 
Socialist  evangel  within  the  circle  of  their  ac- 
quaintance; but  at  election  times,  when  the  law 
is  relaxed,  they  take  a  full  share  of  agitatorial 
work,  where  there  is  no  one  to  forbid  them,  by 


196  German  Life 

public  speaking,  distributing  party  literature,  and 
canvassing  for  votes.  The  party  has  now  a 
special  newspaper  for  women,  called  Equality, 
which  is  also  conducted  by  a  woman. 

What  has  been  said  is  enough  to  show  that 
the  woman's  question  in  Germany,  while  it  has 
made  large  strides,  has  a  great  task  before  it. 
On  the  whole,  its  aims  are  far  from  being  in- 
temperate. Here  and  there  are  to  be  found  ex- 
tremists who  plead  not  merely  for  equality  of 
opportunity  as  between  the  sexes,  but  for  the 
fiction  of  identity  of  condition,  and  who,  forget- 
ful of  the  backward  state  of  the  men's  question 
in  Germany,  seek  to  attain  at  one  move  ideals 
which  are  recognised  as  distant  by  the  more  ar- 
dent reformers  in  England.  But,  in  general,  the 
movement  progresses  within  narrow  limits  and 
on  moderate  lines,  and  herein  consists  its  prin- 
cipal hostage  to  success. 

Following  woman  into  the  home,  where  her 
position  and  power  are  less  a  matter  of  cavil  or 
dispute,  the  German  household  economy  is  found 
to  present  many  special  features  of  interest. 
More  and  more  the  flat  system  is  becoming  uni- 
versalised,  even  in  the  country,  for  it  has  long 
been  the  rule  in  the  towns.  The  separate  house 
is  the  exception,  and  often  the  trim  suburban 
villa  which  stands  with  an  air  of  dignity  and 
"  standoffishness "  in  its  own  spacious  garden 
will  nowadays  be  found  to  be  the  home  of  several 


Woman  and  the  Home       197 

families,  one  living  above  the  other,  by  whom 
the  garden  and  lawn  are  enjoyed  in  common. 
In  the  main  it  is  a  question  of  dear  land,  and  con- 
sequent high  rents.  Every  class  suffers  accord- 
ing to  its  position,  but  the  rack-rents  which  are 
making  the  houses  of  urban  Germany  smaller 
every  year,  and  to  a  large  extent  endangering  the 
public  health,  fall  most  oppressively  upon  the 
small  official  and  the  working  classes,  who  pay 
on  an  average  from  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  of 
their  scanty  earnings  to  the  landlord.  In  Berlin 
rents  are  generally  estimated  at  so  much  per 
room.  In  the  better  parts  of  the  city  £30  per 
room  is  no  exceptional  figure,  bringing  the  rent 
of  a  fair-sized  house  of  eight  rooms  to  ^240, 
while  in  the  newer  parts,  on  the  periphery  of 
the  city,  £15  per  room  is  enough.  The  small 
tradesman  or  small  official  may  get  a  diminutive 
dwelling  of  four  or  five  rooms  for  ^30  or  ^"40; 
but  as  such  a  rent  is  beyond  his  means,  he  lets 
one  room  to  a  lodger- -student  or  clerk --and 
makes  £\o  or  £12  by  the  transaction.  Hence  it 
comes  about  that  Berlin  is  literally  a  city  of 
lodging-houses. 

Where  cost,  or  rent,  as  the  case  may  be,  is 
quite  secondary  to  the  desirability  of  isolation, 
the  self-contained  house  is  still  favoured,  and 
those  people  are  counted  fortunate  indeed  who 
are  able  to  live  alone.  But  the  word  of  the  land 
speculator  has  gone  forth,  and  both  in  small  towns 


198  German  Life 

and  large  the  flat  has  virtually  conquered.  The 
system  has,  however,  very  advantageous  sides, 
and  on  the  score  of  convenience  most  practical 
merits  can  be  claimed  for  it  ;  but  on  the  other 
hand,  it  offers  less  privacy  and  less  protection 
from  noise,  though  custom  tends  to  encourage 
indifference  to  what  goes  on  above,  below, 
and  on  either  side  ;  and  even  neighbours  on 
the  same  story,  whose  front  and  back  doors 
are  not  a  yard  asunder,  can  and  do  live  to- 
gether for  years  without  once  committing 
the  impropriety  of  speaking  to  each  other. 
In  the  internal  arrangements  of  their  houses  the 
Germans  of  the  middle  class  are,  as  a  rule, 
laudably  simple.  There  is  no  useless  profusion 
of  furniture  to  suggest  the  cabinet-maker's  shop. 
The  furniture  is  accommodated  to  the  room,  not 
the  room  to  the  furniture,  and  every  article,  be- 
sides being  needful,  is  good  of  its  kind.  Heavy 
carpets  are  unknown.  In  the  centre  of  the  floor 
there  is  a  rug  or  mat,  but  for  the  rest,  where 
parquet  is  not  used --and  it  is  commoner  in 
houses  of  very  moderate  rent  than  with  us  in 
mansions --the  floor  is  painted  or  stained,  both 
in  the  interest  of  cleanliness  and  convenience. 
The  least  satisfactory  part  of  the  house  is  that 
allotted  to  the  domestic  servants.  German 
housewives  have  of  late  years  found  themselves 
confronted  by  the  selfsame  servant  problem 
which  has  agitated  and  distressed  their  fellows 


Woman  and  the  Home       199 

i'n  Western  countries,  and  from  the  servants' 
standpoint  it  was  high  time  that  the  perplexity 
came,  for  their  general  position  is  neither  a  happy 
nor  a  tolerable  one.  That  the  wages  paid  are 
low  is  a  minor  matter,  considering  the  fact  that 
they  are  higher  now  by  a  hundred  per  cent,  than 
a  decade  ago.  The  wrongs  of  the  domestic  serv- 
ant relate  rather  to  her  treatment  in  the  home, 
-the  unsympathetic  relationship  between  mis- 
tress and  maid,  the  inordinate  hours  of  work,  the 
little  liberty  allowed,  and  the  inferior  accommo- 
dation provided.  Owing  largely,  no  doubt,  to 
higher  rents,  the  bedrooms  allotted  to  the  house- 
hold attendants  are  miserably  small,  often  dark 
box-rooms  at  the  end  of  a  corridor,  which  must 
be  approached  by  a  removable  ladder,  or  doll's- 
house-like  apartments,  half  room,  half  cupboard, 
built  off  the  kitchen  wall,  and  just  large  enough 
to  receive  a  single  bed,  but  too  low  to  allow  of 
their  occupants  standing  upright.  But  the  do- 
mestic servant  is  up  in  arms,  and  has  bidden  her 
tyrants  beware.  There,  as  elsewhere,  she  is  ac- 
quiring the  dangerous  knowledge  that  she  holds 
in  her  hands  her  mistress's  fate  as  well  as  her 
own. 

In  the  matter  of  heating,  the  Germans  set 
English  people  a  lesson  both  in  efficiency  and 
economy.  The  open  fireplace,  which  seems  to 
have  been  deliberately  designed  so  as  to  produce 
a  minimum  of  heat  for  a  maximum  expenditure 


200  German  Life 

of  fuel,  is  almost  unknown  in  these  days,  though 
it  was  formerly  common  in  some  parts  of  the 
country,  and  particularly  on  the  Rhine.  The 
two  modes  of  heating  in  vogue  are  the  fixed 
porcelain  stove  and  the  movable  iron  stove. 
The  latter  is,  however,  antiquated,  and  though 
still  largely  used,  it  is  regarded  as  a  rude  sur- 
vival, and  is  rapidly  going  out  of  fashion.  Pro- 
jecting from  one  of  the  walls,  often  as  far  as  the 
middle  of  the  room,  the  iron  stove  generates  a 
large  amount  of  dry  heat  ;  but  it  does  this  at 
the  expense  of  physical  comfort,  appearance, 
ventilation,  and  thus  of  health.  Very  different 
is  the  porcelain  stove,  which  is  found  in  the 
rooms  of  nearly  all  modern  German  houses.  It 
is  a  ponderous  structure  as  a  rule,  and  on  first 
acquaintance  you  are  inclined  to  vote  it  awk- 
ward, if  not  ugly.  Mark  Twain  did  not  greatly 
exaggerate  when,  describing  his  first  introduc- 
tion to  a  stove  of  the  kind,  he  said  that  the  im- 
pression made  upon  him  was  that  of  being  in 
the  august  presence  of  a  family  moriument.  The 
comparison  may  stand  ;  for  the  common  and 
older  stove,  rising  four  square  to  a  height  of  ten 
feet,  with  its  facing  of  neatly  jointed  white  tiles, 
giving  the  rough  idea  of  blocks  of  marble,  may 
well  suggest  sepulchral  associations.  But  mod- 
ern skill  and  taste — thanks  largely  to  the  excel- 
lent training  afforded  to  porcelain  workers  in  the 
numberless  art-industrial  schools  scattered  all 


Woman  and  the  Home       201 

over  the  country- -have  done  wonders  in  the 
improvement  of  the  domestic  stove.  Plain  white 
tiles  give  place,  in  the  better  qualities,  to  ma- 
jolica of  the  prettiest  shapes  and  colours,  and 
the  family  monuments  which  nowadays  grace 
the  German's  drawing-  and  dining-rooms  are 
veritable  works  of  art  and  beauty.  The  stove 
stands  in  a  convenient  corner,  and  the  positions 
in  the  various  rooms  are  chosen  with  a  view  to 
minimising  the  number  of  chimneys  needed  for 
the  house,  or  a  row  of  houses,  as  it  may  happen. 
In  the  front  of  the  stove,  and  about  a  foot  from 
the  floor,  is  a  roomy  cavity,  in  which  the  charge 
of  fuel  is  placed.  This  consists  either  of  bri- 
quettes, wood,  or  peat, — coal  to  a  very  small 
extent,  and  never  alone,  as  it  would  generate 
too  great  a  heat,  besides  being  much  more  ex- 
pensive. The  face  of  the  cavity  is  covered  by 
an  iron  door,  and  when  the  fuel  has  become 
thoroughly  burned  through — not  before — it  is 
hermetically  closed.  Meanwhile,  the  heat  has 
been  accumulating  and  circulating  through  a 
system  of  fire-proof  earthenware  pipes,  causing 
the  stove  to  give  off  from  the  whole  of  its  ex- 
tended surface  a  gentle  warmth  from  morning 
till  evening  without  a  fresh  supply  of  fuel.  As 
the  stoves  of  several  rooms  are  kept  going  daily 
during  winter,  the  adjoining  corridors  are  warmed 
by  natural  attraction,  with  the  result  that  through- 
out the  whole  house  a  pleasant  and  equable 


202  German  Life 

temperature  is  maintained  all  day  long,  even  in 
the  severest  weather.  As  compared  with  the 
English  system  of  heating,  the  stove  system  has 
the  great  advantage  that  it  uses  little  fuel  and 
wastes  none,  while  the  heating  is  perfect.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  absence  of  an  open  range 
and  the  closing  of  the  stove  do  away  with  effi- 
cient ventilation,  and  where  other  means  are 
not  adopted  to  secure  this  the  disadvantage  is 
considerable. 

The  food  which  is  found  on  the  average 
German  table  is  simple  enough,  though,  judging 
by  the  number  of  meals  served  during  the  day, 
the  culinary  arrangements  of  the  household 
would  appear  to  require  considerable  thought 
and  time.  There  are  five  meals,  spread  over 
twelve  hours.  The  introductory  one  is  known 
as  the  "  first  breakfast,"  and  is  taken  any  time 
between  seven  and  nine  o'clock.  Its  propor- 
tions would  hardly  commend  it  to  the  English- 
man, with  his  addiction  to  substantial  morning 
dishes,  for  it  consists  merely  of  a  cup  of  coffee, 
with  or  without  rolls,  for  inveterate  smokers 
will  declare  that  a  cigar  at  this  early  hour  makes 
baker's  fare  superfluous,  and  also  gives  tone  to 
the  day.  At  half-past  ten  or  eleven  o'clock 
comes  the  "second  breakfast,"  a  simple  lunch- 
eon of  sandwiches,  sausage,  or  eggs,  with  wine 
or  beer.  In  the  middle-class  household  dinner 
comes  as  a  rule  at  from  one  to  two  o'clock. 


Woman  and  the  Home       203 

Soup  is  a  sine  qua  non,  and  the  skilled  house- 
wife will  see  to  it  that  the  same  kind  does  not 
come  to  the  table  more  than  once  a  fortnight  ; 
for  Germany,  at  any  rate,  does  not  share  the 
reputation  of  the  country  which  has  many 
churches  but  only  one  soup.  Hot  dishes  are 
also  an  essential,  for  the  convenient  cold-meat 
dinner  is  an  enormity  which  a  German  cook 
would  not  perpetrate.  A  good  deal  more  care 
is  bestowed  both  on  the  variety  and  preparation 
of  vegetables  than  is  common  in  the  same  class 
in  England,  and  "cabbages  (or  any  other  vege- 
tables) just  as  God  made  them  "  never  make  an 
appearance  on  German  tables.  Puddings  and 
sweet  dishes  in  general  are  but  little  cultivated, 
but  fruits  and  "conserves'  are  freely  used, 
though  the  German  cook  has  an  unfortunate 
prejudice  against  single  fruit  dishes,  and  a 
fondness  for  experimenting  with  unspeakable 
combinations.  About  four  o'clock  comes  after- 
noon coffee  and  cake  round  the  table.  Even 
the  workman  insists  on  making  a  pause  at  this 
hour,  and  calls  the  simple  collation  of  which 
he  partakes  his  "vesper,"  though  the  factory 
threatens  to  extinguish  the  custom.  Finally, 
at  eight  o'clock,  comes  supper,  which  is  as  a 
rule  a  substantial  meal,  for  cold  meats,  both 
fresh  and  cured,  and  fish  salads  accompany  the 
dark-brown  rye-bread,  heavy  but  exceedingly 
nutritious,  and  tea  or  beer.  This  is  not  the 


204  German  Life 

place  for  dissertations  on  cookery,  but  several 
valuable  vegetables  are  needlessly  neglected  in 
England  which  in  Germany  are  very  properly 
held  in  great  esteem.  There,  English  celery,  like 
rhubarb,  is  but  little  used,- -clumps  of  rhubarb 
adorn  the  squares  in  Berlin  as  ornamental  shrubs, 
—  but  the  German  form  of  celery,  which  Eng- 
lish gardeners  call  celeriac  but  do  not  grow,  is 
extensively  cultivated  for  the  sake  of  its  large 
root,  which  makes  a  most  delectable  salad. 
Portugal  cabbage,  kohlrabi,  and  wax-beans  (a 
yellow,  wax-coloured  bean  as  large  as  the 
dwarf-bean,  which  is  only  used  as  a  salad)  are 
also  vegetables  deserving  of  more  attention. 

Several  old  customs  of  the  table  are  still 
observed.  As  the  guests  take  their  seats,  a 
genial  "May  you  dine  well!'  (Wunsche  wohl 
%u  speisen  !)  is  exchanged  ;  and  when  the  repast 
is  over,  a  happy  and  satisfied  "Blessing  on  the 
meal  ! '  (Gesegnete  Mahl^eit!}  and  a  shake  of 
hands  all  round  cement  good  feeling.  In  the 
middle-class  household  the  dishes,  both  meat 
and  vegetables,  are  handed  round,  the  fowl  or 
roast  being  cut  up  at  a  side  table.  First  brought 
to  the  mistress  of  the  house  at  the  head  of  the 
table,  she  sets  them  in  circulation,  either  by 
attendant  or  from  hand  to  hand,  and  they  return 
to  her  when  everyone  is  served,  to  go  the  same 
pilgrimage  later,  when  replenished,  if  necessary. 
This  custom  of  passing  round  is  open  to  compli- 


Woman  and  the  Home       205 

cations,  as  occurred  when  an  English  scholar 
was  being  entertained  by  a  company  of  his 
colleagues  in  a  certain  university  town.  Dinner 
had  reached  the  interesting  stage  of  turkey,  and 
as  the  guest  of  the  evening,  the  dish  was  first 
brought  to  him.  It  was  a  small  bird  and  he 
a  big  man,  and,  being  unacquainted  with  the 
rule  of  the  country,  he  thought  it  was  intended 
to  be  his  undivided  portion,  and  accepted  the 
dish  (round,  as  German  dishes  are,  and  so  not 
unlike  a  larger  plate)  with  becoming  thankful- 
ness. He  had  begun  his  feast  before  the  joke 
was  discovered  by  the  rest.  Uncontrollable 
merriment  seized  one  after  another  of  the  guests, 
who  hastily  beat  retreat  from  the  room  to  avoid 
hurting  anyone's  feelings,  until  (so  the  story 
goes)  the  English  savant  was  left  alone  with  his 
turkey  and  his  host.  But  even  this  misunder- 
standing was  not  as  bad  as  the  contretemps  in 
which  a  poor  student  figured.  He  was  invited 
to  supper,  and  the  joy  of  a  hearty  meal  was 
keen  and  delightful.  The  dishes  had  gone 
round,  and,  in  between,  a  huge  loving-cup  of 
white  beer  had  passed  from  lip  to  lip.  Then 
the  gas  accidentally  went  out,  leaving  the  com- 
pany in  utter  darkness.  His  host's  extremity 
was  the  student's  opportunity.  The  white  beer 
glass,  he  knew,  was  just  before  him,  and  the 
temptation  to  take  one  more  draught  of  the 
cheering  and  not  too  common  beverage  was 


2O6 


German  Life 


too  much  for  his  scruples.  He  drank  in  the 
covering  darkness,  and  replaced  the  glass,  as  he 
thought,  where  it  had  stood.  When  the  gas 
was  lighted,  the  loving-cup  was  found  standing 
in  the  midst  of  a  dish  of  vegetables. 


CHAPTER  IX 

PLEASURES   AND   PASTIMES 

A  CULTIVATED  German  would  probably  ob- 
ject to  the  description  of  the  theatre  as  a 
form  of  social  pleasure,  for  he  is  accustomed  to 
regard  it  from  a  graver  side.  In  one  of  his 
essays  Thomas  Carlyle  says  of  the  drama  that 
while  in  England  its  right  to  exist  is  a  perpetual 
subject  of  Mutual  Improvement  Society  debate, 
in  Germany  it  is  of  the  very  life  of  the  nation. 
No  one  wlio  knows  Germany,  even  from  the  out- 
side, can  fail  to  have  been  impressed  by  the 
serious  place  which  the  theatre  occupies  in  the 
national  estimation.  Perhaps  the  first  conclu- 
sion which  the  unthinking  would  draw  would 
be  that  this  fondness  for  the  theatre  is  a  sign  of 
frivolity,  or  at  least  of  a  strong  pleasure-loving 
vein.  In  reality,  such  a  conclusion  would  be 
strangely  illogical,  and  would  wholly  miss  the 
significance  of  the  theatre  in  German  life.  The 
true  deduction  is  that  the  theatre  is  viewed  from 
the  educational  standpoint,  and  in  a  quite 

207 


208  German  Life 

subordinate  degree  from  the  recreative.  Hence  it 
is  that  the  German  town  must  be  very  small  and 
insignificant  indeed  which  would  not  think  ill  of 
itself,  and  regard  its  educational  institutions  as 
wofully  lacking,  if  it  were  without  a  good  thea- 
tre. But  the  character  of  the  drama  cultivated 
in  the  two  countries  will  better  establish  this 
point.  Ask  the  opinion  of  any  average  German 
theatregoer  of  the  plays  which  are  staged  during 
a  twelvemonth  by  even  the  best  of  the  London 
houses,  and  the  reply  will  be  that,  excepting  the 
classical  works — none  too  often  produced-  -and 
a  few  others,  these  plays  would  never  be  toler- 
ated in  Berlin,  Dresden,  Cologne,  and  a  dozen 
other  German  towns  ;  their  theatres  would  not 
give  them,  and,  if  given,  their  publics  would  re- 
gard them  as  a  degradation  of  the  legitimate 
drama.  "In  no  town  in  the  world,"  wrote 
Professor  Fischer,  of  Innsbruck,  recently  in  an 
article  on  the  subject,  "are  there  more  theatres 
than  in  London,  and  the  public  pays  more  for 
its  theatres  there  than  anywhere  else,  and  yet 
the  aesthetic  results  are  nil.  The  repertory  is 
varied  ;  scenic  effects  have  reached  the  highest 
degree  of  technical  perfection  ;  the  public  loves 
the  theatre  ;  but  nevertheless  art  cuts  a  beggarly 
figure  on  the  English  stage."  That  is  a  severe 
verdict,  but  it  can  at  least  be  matched  by  opinion 
of  equal  weight  in  England.  Yet,  as  if  to 
make  still  more  incomprehensible  this  national 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       209 

neglect  of  the  drama  and  opera,  English  people 
flock  to  Germany  in  thousands  to  witness  the 
-Oberammergau  Passion  Play  and  the  Bayreuth 
performances  of  Wagner's  works,  and  it  has 
been  credibly  asserted  that  tickets  to  the  value 
of  ,£4000  have  been  sold  in  London  alone  for 
one  Bayreuth  season.  A  well-known  English 
Shakespearian  critic  complained  not  long  ago  of 
the  "practical  suppression  of  Shakespeare  on 
the  London  stage."  Certainly  it  cannot  be  de- 
nied that  the  works  of  the  greatest  English 
dramatist  are  far  better  known,  and,  on  the 
whole,  better  played,  in  Germany  than  in  the 
country  of  his  birth.1  In  the  English  provinces, 
Shakespeare  is  seldom  heard  on  the  stage,  and 
then  only  by  way  of  luxury, --say,  the  rare  visit 
of  a  famous  metropolitan  company  ;  but  hardly 
a  German  town  could  be  named  whose  theatre 
or  theatres  do  not  regularly  give  at  least  the  best 
known  of  his  tragedies  and  comedies,  while  the 
Berlin  theatres,  both  royal  and  private,  devote 
an  amount  of  attention  to  the  Shakespearian 
drama  which  should  be  very  trying  to  English 
pride,  and  equally  stimulating  to  English  self- 
respect. 

1  The  following  appeared  quite  recently  in  a  London  literary 
journal  :  "A  German  publishing  firm  in  Stuttgart,  having 
issued  a  people's  edition  of  Shakespeare's  dramas  in  one  volume, 
edited  by  the  German  Shakespeare  Society,  have  sold  in 
eighteen  months  no  fewer  than  ten  editions,  each  of  two 
thousand  copies." 


210  German  Life 

Nearly  all  the  characteristics  which  differen- 
tiate the  German  from  the  English  theatre  are 
precisely  those  which  would  be  expected  in  a 
country  which  takes  the  drama  seriously.  The 
sensational  play,  with  its  run  of  a  thousand  and 
one  nights,  is  unknown  in  Germany,  not  be- 
cause great  plays,  and  plays  which  grip  the 
public  imagination,  are  not  produced  there,  but 
because  in  everything  the  theatre  is  viewed  from 
artistic  and  educational  standpoints.  Well- 
known  and  esteemed  plays  are  periodically 
repeated,  but  consecutive  performances  are  not 
the  rule.  The  large  theatres  give  a  different 
play  every  night  for  weeks  together,  save, 
perhaps,  that  popular  works  are  oftener  taken 
on  Sundays,  when  the  theatre  is  more  generally 
accessible  by  the  play  going  public.  This  custom 
involves  another  characteristic  of  the  German 
theatre, — the  stock  company.  This  is  the  uni- 
versal rule,  not  merely  in  the  cities,  but  in  the 
small  towns  which  maintain  theatres,  for  in 
Germany  the  modern  descendant  of  the  "strol- 
ling player'  is  literally  unknown.  Only  so 
would  the  German  manager  be  able  to  have  at 
command  the  extent  and  variety  of  repertory 
which  his  critical  audiences  require.  The  finan- 
cial difficulty  is  obviated  in  part  by  the  less 
elaborate  stage  effects  with  which,  in  the  smaller 
theatres  at  any  rate,  playgoers  are  contented, 
and  by  royal  or  municipal  subsidies,  where  the 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       211 

theatres  are  patronised,  and  thus  are  expected  to 
maintain  the  highest  possible  standard.  More- 
over, in  a  German  play-bill  an  entire  theatrical 
company  is  never  made  subservient  to  some 
one  bright  particular  star  of  the  footlights,  whom 
it  is  said  to  "  support."  The  German  actor  and 
actress  support  themselves.  Each  has  his  own 
place,  which  is — for  him — the  principal  place  on 
the  stage.  Individuality  is  thus  more  cultivated, 
and  even  the  humblest  player  feels  that  he  is 
something  more  than  a  unit  in  a  long  line  of 
figures,  whose  quotient  is  the  chanted  celebrity 
of  the  hero  of  the  leading  role.  One  further 
feature  of  the  English  theatre — let  it  be  granted, 
the  provincial  theatre  comes  here  in  question 
chiefly — is  utterly  unknown  in  Germany,  and 
is  as  inconceivable  there  as  the  paltry  sentimental 
songs  which  delight  our  middle-class  concert- 
goers  :  it  is  the  pantomime.  The  idea  of  asso- 
ciating this  ludicrous  survival  with  the  modern 
theatre  is  one  of  the  things  which  the  German 
playgoer  who  knows  England  never  succeeds  in 
understanding.  To  his  mind,  accustomed  as  it 
is  to  view  the  theatre  as  directly  supplementary 
in  educational  purpose  and  influence  to  the 
school  and  college,  and  the  drama  as  one  of 
the  highest  of  moralising  agents,  such  a  strange 
conjunction  is  rude,  brutalising,  and  monstrous. 
One  reason  for  the  very  high  excellence  which 
characterises  both  drama  and  opera  throughout 


212  German  Life 

Germany  is  that  territorial ' '  particularism  "  which, 
while  it  has  in  politics  been  the  bane  of  the 
country,  has  been  entirely  advantageous  to  cul- 
ture. As  each  State  has  its  own  capital  and 
centre  or  centres  of  Court  life,  of  education, 
refinement,  and  art,  the  drama  and  opera  have 
been  nurtured  in  many  parts  of  the  country 
independently.  For  drama,  like  all  the  arts, 
has  traditionally  enjoyed  the  special  patronage 
of  the  reigning  house  in  each  State,  both  in  the 
form  of  personal  encouragement  and  financial 
help.  Moreover,  the  pre-eminence  maintained 
by  the  royal  theatres  has  reacted  upon  private 
managers,  who  have  every  inducement  to  aim 
at  the  highest  attainable  standard.  Small  though 
his  territory  is,  no  living  German  sovereign  has 
done  greater  service  to  histrionic  art  than  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Saxe-Meiningen.  His  efforts 
and  sacrifices  have  created  a  company  of  players 
whose  fame  is  more  than  national.  His  son, 
too,  the  Hereditary  Prince,  has  done  much,  by 
his  studies  of  the  Greek  drama  and  the  practical 
application  of  the  results  to  modern  uses,  to 
elevate  the  stage.  The  King  of  Prussia  is  patron 
of  royal  theatres  at  Berlin,  Hanover,  Cassel,  and 
Wiesbaden,  and  the  subsidies  paid  to  them  are 
considerable.  But  the  relationship  between 
the  Crown  and  its  playhouses  is  more  than  a 
financial  one.  The  entire  administration  falls  to 
the  King  or  his  Intendant.  Subject  to  royal 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       213 

veto  and  instructions,  the  latter  possesses  su- 
preme power  in  regard  to  the  choice  of  plays, 
players,  and  musicians,  and  the  general  manage- 
ment of  the  theatre  for  which  he  is  responsible, 
and  even  the  rules  for  pronunciation  which  are 
issued  by  his  flat  have  more  than  the  authority 
of  the  Encyclopedic. 

Berlin  has  for  some  years  possessed  a  unique 
theatre,  which  aims  at  popularising  the  drama 
amongst  the  working  classes.  Yet  this  playing 
to  the  people  involves  no  sacrifice  either  of  taste 
or  merit,  for  only  plays  of  a  high  character,  both 
literary  and  moral,  are  given.  The  London 
theatre  director  who  concentrated  his  efforts 
upon  enticing  heterogeneous  assemblies  of  arti- 
sans, operatives,  costers,  and  dock  labourers  to 
witness  high-class  plays — among  which,  shall 
we  say,  Shakespeare's  took  a  leading  place- 
would  be  regarded  as  an  idealist  of  the  not  very 
sane  order  ;  yet  add  Goethe,  Schiller,  and  Ibsen 
to  Shakespeare,  and  this  is  precisely  the  mission 
of  the  Schiller  Theatre  in  Berlin  ;  and  wonder- 
ful— or  not  wonderful  ? — to  relate,  the  mission 
is  achieved  with  complete  success.  The  theatre 
is  carried  on  by  a  private  company  ;  and  though 
the  combined  edification  and  entertainment  of 
the  working  classes  of  the  metropolis  are  the 
primary  object  of  both  director  and  shareholders, 
the  project  has  been  placed  on  a  hard  commercial 
basis,  and  moderate  dividends  have  been  paid- 


214  German  Life 

The  prices  of  admission  range  from  threepence 
to  six  times  that  sum  for  purchasers  of  six 
tickets  at  once,  and  from  fourpence  to  two-and- 
sixpence  where  single  tickets  are  bought.  Here, 
as  in  other  German  theatres,  there  is  a  fixed 
company,  and  during  the  six  years  that  the 
theatre  has  been  carried  on,  it  has  developed 
a  repertory  of  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  plays. 
Though  the  theatre  has  had  a  marvellous  career 
of  full  houses,  it  is,  of  course,  impossible,  with 
the  modest  revenue  at  command — for  threepence 
per  seat  does  not  go  a  long  way — to  expend 
great  sums  either  upon  actors  or  upon  staging, 
yet  the  company  is  admittedly  one  of  a  high 
order,  and  is  able  to  stand  with  credit  the  criti- 
cism of  a  by  no  means  undiscriminating  Press. 
It  is,  moreover,  an  interesting  fact  that,  besides 
paying  its  way,  the  Schiller  Theatre  is  able  peri- 
odically to  invite  thousands  of  children  from  the 
lower  communal  schools  to  free  performances, 

If  Germany  is  the  chosen  home  of  the  acted 
drama,  it  is  not  less  the  musical  country  it  always 
was,  though  the  seventh  day  of  the  creation 
might  seem  to  have  been  reached  so  far  as  the 
production  of  composers  of  gigantic  genius  goes. 
Love  of  music  must  go  deep  into  the  national 
character  when  men  of  such  stern  mould  as 
Prince  Bismarck  and  Marshal  von  Moltke  could 
own  to  passionate  fondness  for  the  harmonies  of 
voice  and  instrument.  The  same  trait  marks  all 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       215 

£lasses  of  the  people.  How  powerful  an  element 
music  forms  in  the  national  life  is  proved  by  the 
mere  mention  of  the  German  songs,  patriotic, 
popular,  military,  and  academic.  In  no  other 
country  is  there  so  much  singing.  Everybody 
sings  when  he  can.  Bronzed  soldiers  sing  of  bat- 
tle and  Fatherland  as  they  foot  it  over  sandy  road 
and  stubbly  corn-land  to  and  from  their  fatigu- 
ing exercises.  The  stalwart  gymnasts  of  the 
Turnmrein  sing  lays  which  good  old  "Father' 
Jahn,  their  patron  saint,  left  them,  as  they  march 
to  the  district  festival.  Boisterous  students, 
brimming  over  with  animal  spirits,  break  the 
silence  of  the  streets  with  their  musical  homage 
to  wine  and  the  muses,  as  they  tardily  turn  into 
their  lodgings  for  the  night.  Bright-eyed  school- 
boys and  schoolgirls,  on  botanical  study  bent, 
mingle  voices  in  cheerful  round  or  part-song  as, 
with  teacher  at  their  head,  they  eagerly  hasten 
towards  the  forest,  which  is  so  much  pleasanter 
than  school  on  a  hot  summer's  afternoon.  Song 
is  life  to  the  German,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to 
exaggerate  either  the  national  or  moral  influence 
of  this  characteristic.  Does  not  Schiller  say: 

1  Wo  man  singt,  da  lass  dich  ruhig  nieder, 
Bose  Menschen  haben  keine  Lieder." 

So,  too,  instrumental  music  occupies  a  unique 
place  in  the  affections  of  the  people.  The  most 
popular  concerts  are  orchestral  ;  and  it  is  note- 


2i 6  German  Life 

worthy  that  the  admirable  bands  which  are  found 
in  all  well-regulated  cafe-gardens  (and  often  in 
hotels)  are  not  there  simply  to  while  away  the 
time  of  idle  guests,  but  to  afford  genuine  enter- 
tainment, and  frivolous  music  will  seldom  be 
heard.  In  every  class  of  society  a  rare  standard 
of  taste  prevails.  Perhaps  nowhere  else  are  con- 
certs in  general  so  classical  in  character.  You 
may  take  up  the  programme  of  a  people's  con- 
cert, and  you  will  find  that  the  music  is  of 
the  best  kind.  Moreover,  the  uneducated  taste 
-almost  worse  than  no  taste  at  all-  -which  tol- 
erates the  admixture  of  classical  and  music-hall 
music  in  the  same  concert  is  never  met  with. 
Not  less  is  true  artistic  feeling  shown  by  the 
habit  of  regulating  the  length  of  a  programme, 
not  by  the  sum  paid  for  admission,  or  the  hour 
of  beginning,  but  by  the  receptive  capacity  of 
the  cultured  ear  and  mind.  But  if  a  German  au- 
dience is  artistic  and  critical,  it  is  not  undemons- 
trative, be  it  pleased  or  disappointed.  If  the 
former,  its  satisfaction  is  exhibited  with  a  hearti- 
ness that  admits  of  no  two  interpretations.  It 
must  be  admitted,  however,  that  music-madness 
is  one  of  the  most  amiable  forms  of  popular 
aberration. 

Englishmen  of  all  classes  are  proverbially  fond 
of  outdoor  exercise,  and  a  healthy  tradition  is 
still  current  to  the  effect  that  the  battle  of  Water- 
loo was  won  in  the  playgrounds  of  Eton  and 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       217 

Rugby.  The  same  addiction  to  sports  and  pas- 
times cannot  be  said  to  characterise  the  German, 
though  he  has  compensations  which  his  muscular 
critics  in  the  land  of  cricket  and  football  are  apt 
to  ignore.  The  military  service  which  the  able- 
bodied  youth  of  Germany  is  compelled  to  un- 
dergo is  of  unquestionable  physical  as  well  as 
moral  benefit,  and  it  possesses  the  advantage 
which  the  optional  seductions  of  the  English 
athletic  grounds  do  not,  that  there  is  little  hope  of 
escaping  its  wholesome  discipline.  The  student 
world,  too,  exercises  both  sinew  and  nerve 
in  the  fencing-club  encounters  which  are  ar- 
ranged at  frequent  intervals  during  term,  and 
which  bear  unlovely  fruit  in  the  hacked  faces  and 
bandaged  heads  that  are  always  to  be  seen  upon 
the  streets  of  a  university  town.  But  a  more 
practical  substitute  for  sport  as  Englishmen  know 
it  is  found  in  gymnastics.  Turnen,  as  it  is  called, 
forms  an  important  part  of  the  curriculum  of 
every  school,  both  elementary  and  higher, 
whether  for  boys,  girls,  or  infants;  and  while 
the  athletic  craze  has  not  gone  to  the  lengths 
one  sees  in  England,  it  is  by  no  means  an  un- 
common thing  nowadays  to  come  across  advert- 
isements for  higher  school  teachers  in  which 
"gymnastics'  is  bracketed  with  philology  or 
mathematics  as  the  qualifications  required.  The 
Gymnastic  Club  (Turnverem)  is  also  a  popular 
institution,  to  be  found  in  every  town,  and  its 


218  German  Life 

exhibitions  and  contests  are  events  of  unfailing 
attraction.  There  is  even  a  national  athletic 
meeting  once  a  year,  in  which  clubs  from  all 
parts  of  the  Empire  participate.  It  is  held  in  dif- 
ferent towns  of  note  in  turn,  and  creates  hardly 
less  interest  than  the  great  meetings  of  the 
English  trade-unionists  and  co-operators.  The 
history  of  this  movement  is  a  very  remarkable 
one.  It  was  Friedrich  Ludwig  Jahn  (1778  to 
1852),  still  revered  as  the  "Father  of  Gym- 
nastics," who  brought  home  to  Germany  the 
importance  for  young  and  old  of  gymnastic  ex- 
ercise on  scientific  principles.  He  first  intro- 
duced the  practice  in  Berlin  in  1811,  while 
engaged  as  teacher  in  a  Gymnasium  there,  and  it 
soon  took  hold  of  the  people.  Prussia  was  then 
in  the  throes  of  a  national  rebirth,  and  Jahn  took 
a  patriot's  part  in  the  Liberation  War.  Return- 
ing to  his  school  when  the  war  was  over,  he 
allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  into  politics,  and, 
like  so  many  of  the  finest  spirits  of  that  time,  he 
fell  under  Government  suspicion  and  disfavour, 
owing  to  his  democratic  views,  and  passed 
two  years  in  prison.  Released,  he  prosecuted 
his  gymnastic  crusade  with  renewed  vigour,  and 
lived  to  receive  the  Iron  Cross  from  his  King,  and 
to  sit  in  the  German  National  Assembly  of  1848 
as  an  extreme  Conservative.  Prince  Bismarck 
has  left  it  on  record  that  he  was  strengthened 
both  in  physical  powers  and  in  courage  by  his 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       219 

participation  in  the  exercises  of  Jahn's  Athletic 
Club,  to  which  he  belonged  when  resident  in 
Berlin  as  a  student.  Monuments  have  been 
raised  to  Jahn  by  a  grateful  posterity,  both  in 
Berlin,  where  he  worked,  and  in  Freiburg, 
where  he  died  and  lies  buried.  It  is  solely  ow- 
ing to  Jahn's  practice  and  precept  that  to-day  all 
German  schools  systematically  and  rationally 
combine  physical  exercise  with  mental  training. 
The  more  popular  English  outdoor  games  are 
as  yet  but  little  esteemed  in  Germany.  Cricket 
has  a  few  enthusiastic  followers,  but  the  en- 
couragement they  receive  is  disappointing,  for 
the  game,  by  those  who  know  anything  about 
it,  is  generally  regarded  as  an  Englishman's  odd 
whim.  Tennis,  up  to  a  few  years  ago,  was  only 
played  amongst  the  English  and  American  col- 
onies, but  it  is  making  headway.  Even  football 
is  slowly  winning  favour,  especially  in  South 
Germany,  though  Berlin  owns  itself  on  the  way 
to  conversion.  Football  appeals  to  people  very 
differently,  and  it  is  worth  while  quoting  here 
the  first  impressions  of  a  Berlin  spectator  of  the 
game,  as  recorded  in  a  leading  journal  of  that 
city:  "On  Sunday  afternoon  [writes  the  corre- 
spondent] an  uncommon  spectacle  was  offered 
to  Berliners  on  the  Tempelhofer  Feld.  Led  by 
a  military  officer,  twenty-five  young  men  were 
to  be  seen  gathering  on  the  ground,  where  a 
space  five  hundred  feet  long  and  seventy  feet 


220  German  Life 

wide  was  measured  off,  then  marked  by  poles 
and  flags.  At  each  end  of  the  space  a  linen 
partition  twelve  yards  high  was  erected, 
which  gave  the  whole  the  appearance  of  a  high 
tent.  These  preliminaries  over,  the  young  peo- 
ple entered  an  adjacent  beer-house,  and  soon 
returned  dressed  in  jockey-like  costume.  They 
were  football  players  !  The  game  is  extremely 
simple.  An  india-rubber  ball,  enveloped  in 
leather,  is  defended  by  two  parties.  As  soon  as 
the  attacking  party  succeeds  in  kicking  the  ball 
through  their  opponents'  goal,  they  have  won 
the  game.  Football,  which  in  England  is  very 
popular  amongst  all  classes,  hardens  and 
strengthens  the  body,  and  is  therefore  of  very 
beneficial  influence  upon  the  health."  Such  an 
illuminating  utterance  on  the  subject  of  football 
by  a  German  observer  might  find  a  fitting  par- 
allel in,  say,  an  Englishman's  description  of  the 
doings  of  a  Berlin  students'  fencing-room. 

But  if  young  Germany  does  not  play  football 
in  winter,  it  skates,  and  skates  well.  The  se- 
verity of  the  season  and  the  abundance  of  water 
give  to  skating  a  place  which  it  cannot  take 
in  countries  of  more  temperate  climate.  Yet, 
though  the  North  German  winter  is  winter  in- 
deed,— insomuch  that  the  frost  often  reaches  that 
Russian  intensity  which  caused  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  to  say  that  the  two  generals  on  whom 
he  could  always  rely  were  Generals  Janvier  and 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       221 

Fevrier,: — the  coldest  months  are,  in  reality,  most 
healthy  and  enjoyable.  Though  the  temperature 
should  fall  thirty  degrees  (Fahrenheit)  below 
zero,  the  ice  crust  on  the  rivers  become  a  yard 
thick,  and  cabmen  be  nightly  frozen  to  death 
in  the  streets  while  waiting  for  fares,  the  purity 
and  dryness  of  the  atmosphere  make  the  cold 
bracing  and  exhilarating  where  the  far  milder 
weather  of  England  only  produces  unheroic  fits 
of  shivering  and  a  general  condition  of  wheezi- 
ness.  Day  after  day,  perhaps  for  several  weeks 
together,  there  will  be  a  brilliant  blue  sky  over- 
head, and  a  dazzling  mantle  of  white  on  the 
earth  beneath,  and  each  afternoon  the  sun  sinks 
glowing  crimson  upon  a  pathless  plain  of  snow. 
Winter  rules  severely,  like  the  despot  he  is  ;  but 
at  least  his  Court  is  splendid,  and  even  his  rigour 
is  not  ill  meant.  The  existence  of  scores  of 
skating  clubs,  formed  for  the  serious  cultivation 
of  an  art  which  lends  itself  to  many  athletic 
possibilities,  speaks  of  the  hold  which  this  pas- 
time has  obtained  upon  the  affections  of  young 
and  old.  Of  late  years  ski-ing  has  also  become 
acclimatised  in  the  hilly  districts,  and  in  the 
Black  Forest  alone  its  devotees  number  many 
hundreds. 

While  the  masses  have  their  special  outdoor 
pastimes,  the  classes  have  theirs.  Germany  is 
still  a  country  of  great  hunters,  and  the  larger 
game  flourishes  and  offers  much  sport  as  well  as 


222  German  Life 

profit  to  those  who  are  fortunate  enough  to 
possess  hunting  rights.  This  is  due  not  more 
to  the  abundance  of  forest  and  other  preserves 
than  to  the  great  interest  which  the  Government 
takes  in  the  preservation  of  game  and  the  regu- 
lation of  its  destruction  and  sale,  in  the  way  of 
forest  laws.  Red  deer,  roe,  elk,  fallow  deer, 
wild  boar,  and  moor  and  field  game  are  amongst 
the  sportsman's  possible  quarry.  A  curious  ar- 
rangement has  been  legalised  in  some  parts  of 
Germany, — Prussia  is  an  example.  The  owners 
or  tenants  of  large  estates- -that  is,  estates  of 
about  four  hundred  acres --may  exercise  the 
right  of  shooting  game,  subject  to  the  ordinary 
legal  restrictions  ;  but  smaller  estates  or  holdings 
are  combined,  and  the  shooting  rights  are  sold 
or  leased  by  the  local  authority,  which  divides 
the  proceeds  amongst  those  entitled  to  them  in 
proportion  to  the  extent  of  their  land,  due  com- 
pensation being  given  to  the  owners  or  holders 
in  the  event  of  damage  being  done  to  land  or 
crops  by  either  sportsmen  or  game.  For  most 
kinds  of  game  there  are  statutory  close  times, 
and  the  law  is  very  jealous  of  any  infraction  of 
these  ;  while  the  prohibition  of  the  use  of  nets, 
traps,  and  snares  applies  equally  to  the  owner 
of  the  shooting  rights  and  to  the  illicit  coveter 
of  his  neighbour's  forest  goods.  Poaching  is 
not  so  common  as  might  be  supposed  from 
the  abundance  of  game.  The  reasons  are  the 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       223 


severity  of  the  law,  the  careful  watch  that  is  kept 
by  fiscal  and  private  foresters,  and  the  restrictions 
which  apply  to  the  sale  and  transmission  of 
f(  Wild"  of  all  kinds,  for  these  alone  make  the 
risk  of  detection  so  great  that  the  modern  would- 
be  poacher  has  found  the  game  not  to  be  worth 
the  candle. 

"  To  give  room  for  wandering,  is  it, 
That  the  world  was  made  so  wide." 

So  said  Goethe,  and  the  sentiment  would  ap- 
pear to  be  commending  itself  more  and  more  to 
his  countrymen.  The  German  tourist  is  seldom 
met  in  the  British  Islands,  but  he  exists,  and  at 
the  proper  seasons  of  the  year  may  be  encount- 
ered in  every  beauty-spot  of  his  native  country. 
Yet  the  German  is  certainly  not  as  fond  of  walk- 
ing as  the  Englishman,  and  the  practice  of  ped- 
estrianism  extends  over  a  much  more  limited 
social  area  in  Germany  than  in  England,  for  it  is 
there  far  more  a  matter  of  means  than  in  the  lat- 
ter. But,  practical  and  systematic  in  this  matter 
as  in  most  others,  the  Germans  have  facilitated 
tourist  enterprise  and  pleasure  in  a  way  that  is 
worthy  of  all  praise.  This  has  been  done  by  the 
agency  of  the  tourist  clubs  which  exist  wher- 
ever there  is  scenery  worth  visiting.  These 
clubs,  which  together  have  many  thousands  of 
members,  —  single  clubs  having  as  many  as  five, 
six,  and  ten  thousand,  —  make  it  their  business  to 


224  German  Life 

survey  the  districts  in  connexion  with  which 
they  are  formed,  measuring  the  distances,  fixing 
guide  and  kilometre  posts,  with  other  conven- 
ient directions,  making  and  maintaining  roads 
and  paths  over  mountain  and  through  forest, 
bridging  rivers  and  streams,  establishing  efficient 
hostel  arrangements,  with  moderate  charges, 
marking  out  famous  localities,  opening  up  the 
finer  outlooks,  protecting  dangerous  spots,  pro- 
viding shelters  and  seats,  publishing  maps,  route 
charts,  and  guide-books,  and  generally  making 
the  way  of  the  tourist  as  plain  and  easy  as 
possible. 

One  knows  how  these  important  services  are 
done — or  not  done — for  strangers  in  picturesque 
and  hilly  England.  Generally,  the  initiative  is 
left  to  local  government  bodies,  which  seldom 
go  beyond  the  provision  of  a  couple  of  benches 
in  the  village  street,  and  which  regard  the  mak- 
ing of  passable  foot-roads  and  the  erection  of 
guide-posts  as  trivialities  too  insignificant  for 
their  attention.  In  Germany  these  things  are 
certainly  done  better.  There  is  probably  no  dis- 
trict frequented  to  any  degree  which  has  not 
been  made  so  easy  of  access  that  wayfaring  men, 
even  fools  (which,  alas,  many  are)  need  not  err 
therein.  There  are  large  and  wealthy  clubs  for 
the  Harz  Mountain  district,  for  the  Black  Forest, 
the  Taunus,  Saxon  Switzerland,  the  Thuringian 
Forest,  the  Riesengebirge,  the  Erzgebirge,  the 


A  BLACK  FOREST  PEASANT   GIRL 
C.  Heyden 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       225 

Bavarian  Alps  and  Tyrol,  and  a  score  of  other 
well-known  districts,  not  to  speak  of  a  great 
number  of  small  clubs  which  do  the  same  serv- 
ice for  districts  out  of  the  beaten  track  of 
touristdom.  Clubs  which  have  charge  of  wide 
areas,  or  areas  difficult  and  costly  to  work,  di- 
vide themselves  into  "Sections,"  of  which  a 
single  club  may  have  as  many  as  eighty,  each 
with  its  special  tasks  and  its  special  roll  of  mem- 
bers, whose  annual  subscriptions — from  one  to 
five  shillings,  as  the  case  may  be — are  devoted 
in  part  to  local,  in  part  to  general  purposes.  I 
can  myself  speak  from  experience  of  most  of  the 
districts  which  have  been  named,  and  though 
the  facilities  for  orientirung  are  naturally  un- 
equal, they  are  better  in  the  least  efficient  case 
than  those  that  exist,  say,  in  the  Welsh  mount- 
ains or  the  English  Lake  district.  The  system 
of  road-marking  is  often  very  primitive, — perhaps 
nothing  more  than  letters  or  crosses  in  different 
colours,  placed  upon  prominent  stones  or  trees, 
-but  it  is  thorough,  and  saves  the  wanderer  an 
infinity  of  pains,  besides  untold  disappointment 
and  loss  of  time. 

Touring  is  exclusively  a  masculine  enjoyment 
in  Germany.  The  woman's  movement  has  not 
set  in  that  direction  as  yet,  and  the  gentler  sex 
still  regards  with  wonder  not  unmixed  with 
politely  restrained  ridicule  and  mild  indignation, 
the  masculine  misses,  hailing  from  a  certain 

«5 


226  German  Life 

l-sland  where  everybody  is  supposed  to  follow  his 
or  her  own  sweet  will,  who  descend  upon  the 
favourite  mountain  and  forest  resorts  of  the 
Fatherland,  performing  incomprehensible  feats 
of  pedestrianism,  attired  in  garments  bewilder- 
ing in  taste,  fit,  and  general  originality,  and 
coolly  belabouring  everybody  with  whom  they 
come  in  contact  with  marvellous  variations  of  the 
native  tongue.  But  an  agreeable,  lively,  fashion- 
able bath,  where,  devotions  to  Hygeia  duly 
made,  a  maximum  of  distraction  may  be  enjoyed 
with  a  minimum  of  exertion,  where  fountains 
play,  and  music  bewitches  the  ear,  and  coffee- 
gardens,  with  their  endless  possibilities  of  chat 
and  gossip,  are  within  easy  reach  at  any  moment, 
-that  is  the  ideal  holiday  haunt  of  every  German 
lady  who  entertains  the  right  respect  for  herself. 
The  "bath  season'  (Badesaison)  is  a  very 
serious  institution  in  Germany,  and  increasingly 
so  as  the  well-to-do  and  leisured  class  grows. 
The  great  exodus  to  the  baths  synchronises,  for 
obvious  reasons,  with  the  school  holidays. 
When,  therefore,  the  dog-days  come  round, 
bringing  respite  to  nervous  teacher  and  over- 
worked pupil,  everybody  who  is  anybody  dis- 
appears for  a  time  from  the  customary  circle  ;  he 
(or  more  probably  she)  has  gone  to  the  bath. 
In  baths  Germany  is  certainly  rich.  There  are 
Ems,  for  bronchial  weaknesses  ;  Wiesbaden  for 
gout,  and  its  poor  relation,  rheumatism,  besides 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       227 

general  bracing  up  ;  Homburg  for  much  the 
same,  with  a  preference  for  royal  and  diplomatic 
invalids  ;  Kissingen,  whose  ferruginous  salt 
springs  did  wonders  for  Prince  Bismarck  ; 
Baden-Baden  for  cutaneous  and  rheumatic  com- 
plaints ;  Nauheim,  with  its  brine  baths,  Kosen, 
with  the  same, — a  place  much  given  up  to  scrofu- 
lous children,  on  which  account  it  is  known 
medically  as  the  "German  nursery"  ;  not  to 
speak  of  Carlsbad  (highly  aristocratic)  and  Ma- 
rienbad,  just  over  in  Bohemia,  both  famous  for 
hot  saline  springs  ;  and  Gastein,  in  Austria, 
which  offers  eternal  hope  to  the  sufferer  of  that 
malady  of  civilisation,  the  disordered  liver  ;  and 
a  host  of  less  popular  places. 

A  certain  proportion  of  the  visitors  to  the  baths 
are  attracted  solely  by  their  health-giving  prop- 
erties. These  are  the  genuine  "cure-guests' 
(Badegaste),  and  they  frequent  the  springs  which 
best  minister  to  their  ailments  year  by  year  with 
unfailing  regularity.  There  are  also  the  fashion- 
able lady  invalids, — the  pleasure-lovers  pure  and 
simple,--and  they  form  the  large  majority.  As, 
however,  each  bath  offers  its  own  distinctive 
social  attractions,  the  choice  of  a  resort  is  for 
them  not  the  least  perplexing  of  domestic  prob- 
lems. Where  circumstances  permit  of  it,  the  dif- 
ficulty is  solved  by  taking  all  the  baths  in  turn,  or 
at  least  those  in  which  the  amenities  of  life  are 
most  notoriously  cultivated.  But  this  policy  of 


228  German  Life 

strict  impartiality  is  never  avowed.  Madame  is 
too  ingenious,  too  diplomatic.  There  must,  at 
any  rate,  be  the  show  of  necessity.  So  the  place 
of  resort  for  the  coming  summer  having  been 
settled  in  her  mind  betimes,  the  malady  which  it 
is  warranted  to  cure  has  somehow  to  be  con- 
tracted, and  in  order  to  do  this  a  certain  humour- 
ing of  the  family  doctor  is  essential,  Wiesbaden, 
for  example,  means  relief  to  the  victim  of  nerves, 
and  it  is  in  itself  a  pleasant,  lively  resort,  offering 
a  perpetual  round  of  delightful  distractions,  be- 
sides being  conveniently  near  the  Rhine.  Hence 
it  is  discovered  long  before  spring  is  out  that  a 
''cure'  at  Wiesbaden  is  an  absolute  necessity 
this  year.  An  attack  of  nerves  is  no  improbable 
infliction  for  the  most  robust-looking  of  individ- 
uals, and  if  you  solemnly  declare  that  you  have 
it,  not  all  the  doctors  in  the  world  can  prove  the 
contrary.  "So  Wiesbaden  would  be  just  the 
thing,  Herr  Doctor, — nicht  wahr  ?  '  Herr  Doc- 
tor smiles,  and  will  think  about  it.  With  each 
repetition  of  the  urgent  question  the  doctor  be- 
comes more  and  more  convinced  that  the  com- 
plaint is  real,  and  should  be  neglected  no  longer, 
and  that  Wiesbaden  may  be  expected  to  effect  a 
radical  cure.  The  battle  is  won.  With  the  fam- 
ily doctor  on  her  side,  Madame  encounters  with 
confident  equanimity  the  domestic  incident  who 
carries  the  money-bag, — it  will  be  an  easy 
walk-over,  and  she  knows  it. 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       229 

* 

The  life  of  the  German  baths  is  pretty  much 
the  same  everywhere, — whether  it  be  Wiesbaden 
or  Ems,  Baden-Baden  or  Gastein.  Some  are 
livelier  than  others  ;  some  presuppose  deeper 
purses,  or  at  least  purses  better  filled  than  the 
rest  ;  some  have  longer,  some  shorter,  seasons  ; 
but  in  all  there  is  the  same  hygienic  routine  to 
be  gone  through,  the  same  variety  of  pleasures 
to  be  enjoyed  in  compensation.  Drinking  the 
waters  is  the  first  and  least  agreeable  duty  of  the 
day,  and  it  is  generally  undertaken  very  early,- 
always  before  fast  is  broken.  In  the  more  pop- 
ular places,  during  the  rush  of  the  season,  long 
columns  of  shivering  people,  each  with  glass  in 
hand,  may  be  seen  as  early  as  six  o'clock,  slowly 
filing  past  the  favourite  springs  which  pour  forth 
their  unsavoury  hot  water  and  health.  They 
take  their  draught,  and  go  home  again,  to  bed 
or  coffee,  as  the  case  may  be.  It  is  an  odd  sight, 
half  humorous,  if  at  least  a  quarter  tragic,  and 
reminds  one  of  nothing  more  forcibly  than  of  the 
string  of  invalids  hobbling  into  the  "  Fountain 
of  Youth,"  in  one  of  Cranach's  famous  paintings. 
During  the  day  life  wears  a  pleasanter  aspect. 
There  are  the  rendezvous,  at  well-known  hours 
in  the  Kurgarten,  with  music  of  the  best ;  the 
tennis  parties  and  drives  in  the  country  ;  and  in 
the  evening  soirees  and  balls  in  the  Kursaal,  be- 
sides the  amusements  which  are  provided  in 
town  by  private  entertainers.  Altogether,  life 


230  German  Life 

can  be  made  decidedly  tolerable,  for  the  time  be- 
ing, for  even  the  most  exacting  of  connoisseurs 
in  social  relaxation.  There  is,  of  course,  a  high 
bill  to  pay  at  the  end  of  it,  but  that  is  a  matter 
for  the  domestic  incident,  who  meanwhile  re- 
mains at  home,  languishing  or  otherwise,  accord- 
ing to  circumstances  into  which  it  would  be 
impiety  to  inquire.  The  Germans  have  invented 
an  expressive  name  for  the  husband  whose  wife 
is  recruiting  her  health  alone  at  the  bath  :  he  is 
called  the  "Straw-widower." 

Where  fashionable  complaints  play  no  part  in 
determining  the  holiday  resort,  the  choice  may 
lie  between  mountain,  lake,  river,  and  sea. 
Tired  brain-workers,  and  still  more  the  artist 
world,  naturally  gravitate  towards  the  Bavarian 
Alps,  and  even-  -before  the  noisy  season  breaks 
in — to  the  Harz  Mountains.  The  beautiful  lakes 
of  Bavaria  also  entice  increasing  numbers  of 
visitors  every  year,  and  the  towns  and  villages 
which  line  the  Rhine  from  Bonn  onward  to 
Mayence  contain  no  small  part  of  Germany's 
roving  population  during  the  summer  months. 
North  German  people  of  modester  means,  and 
especially  those  with  families  of  young  folk, 
frequent  the  many  lovely  spots  on  the  Baltic  Sea 
coast,  or,  if  preferring  inland  resorts,  the  Black 
Forest  and  Thuringia.  Among  the  more  popu- 
lar haunts  of  Berlin  pleasure-seekers  with  short 
time  at  disposal  are  Heligoland,  Saxon  Switzer- 


CO 

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a. 

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Pleasures  and  Pastimes       23 1 

land,  and  the  Spree  Forest.  This  last  region, 
lying  a  few  hours  by  rail  from  Berlin,  has  a 
peculiar  interest  from  the  fact  that  it  is  one  of 
the  few  remaining  homes  of  the  decaying  Wen- 
dish  race.  The  physical  features  of  the  country 
are  not  particularly  attractive  ;  but  it  is  a  curi- 
osity of  travel  there  that  the  principal  means  of 
communication  between  village  and  village  is 
by  water.  Along  the  water  highways  you  are 
paddled  in  shallow  boats  by  stout  countrymen  ; 
and  though  one  experience  of  the  kind  is  novel 
enough,  a  second  is  apt  to  become  monotonous 
and  fatiguing.  When  he  goes  abroad  for  pleas- 
ure- -as  he  does  more  and  more  every  year  — 
the  German  prefers  either  Switzerland  or  the 
Austrian  Tyrol,  though  Italy  in  the  right  season, 
and  Norway  and  Denmark  all  the  summer 
through,  are  nowadays  largely  visited.  France 
is  no  longer  much  favoured,  while  England  is 
not  known  at  all  to  the  lover  of  nature,  but  re- 
tains its  old  reputation  as  a  barren  island,  cloud- 
capped  and  fog-bound  all  the  year  round. 

To  say  that  the  English  are  not  invariably 
popular  at  the  German  baths  is  to  hint  at  certain 
constitutional  defects  of  temperament  and  man- 
ners which  many  travelling  English  folk,  of  both 
sexes,  take  quite  unnecessary  pains  to  force 
upon  the  attention  of  those  whose  country  they 
happen  to  visit,  and  whose  hospitality  they  are 
therefore  enjoying.  To  speak  of  the  typical 


232  German  Life 

Englishman's  thoughtlessness  when  abroad  is  to 
retail  a  thrice-told  tale.  Everybody  is  aware  of 
it  save  the  typical  Englishman  himself  ;  and  un- 
til he  acquires  the  knowledge  of  his  ignorance, 
and  shows  fruits  meet  for  repentance,  the  strict- 
ures which  are  passed  upon  his  countrymen 
wholesale  wherever  they  show  themselves  on 
the  Continent  will  continue  as  often  as  not  to 
fall  where  they  are  least  due.  It  is  astounding 
that  English  people  who  can  be  absolutely  prud- 
ish in  matters  of  form  at  home  often  commit 
the  grossest  acts  of  boorishness  abroad,  without 
apparent  consciousness  of  impropriety.  If  the 
following  incident  is  unique  it  is  only  so  in  its 
character, — not  in  its  spirit.  A  gentle  English 
girl,  incapable  at  home  of  the  slightest  breach  of 
good  taste,  meets  upon  a  highway  in  the  Tyrol 
a  country  mafden  of  her  own  age.  Everybody 
knows,  or  should  know  before  travelling  in  that 
part  of  Europe,  that  amongst  Tyrolese  women 
the  rural  costume  is  worn  in  the  better  as  well 
as  in  the  lowly  classes  of  society.  Struck  by  the 
girl's  dress,  the  English  visitor  accosts  her  in 
familiar  words,  and,  heedless  of  the  indignant 
blush,  fingers  her  ribbons,  smells  her  flowers, 
and  finally,  having  made  a  thorough  all-round 
stare,  goes  on  her  way  without  a  word  of  ex- 
planation. She  is  ignorant  that  she  has  insulted 
the  daughter  of  a  high-born  landed  family,  per- 
haps a  score  of  times  older  than  her  own, --still 


Pleasures  and  Pastimes       233 

more  ignorant  that  she  has  increased  the  English 
reputation  abroad  for  unpardonable  rudeness  and 
thoughtlessness.  One  hears  of  such  incidents, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  reply.  The  natural  excuse, 
that  such  conduct  is  an  exception,  is  true  enough, 
but  foreigners  are  apt  to  judge  English  people  — 
as  we  are  apt  to  judge  foreigners  —  by  the  par- 
ticular and  not  by  the  general.  In  the  bathing- 
places  the  English  are  not  a  whit  more  popular 
than  elsewhere,  and  the  reasons  are  precisely 
the  same.  The  following  words,  taken  from 
a  letter  which  appeared  in  the  London  Times 
several  years  ago,  will  aptly  illustrate  the  spirit 
which  makes  the  English  people  so  thoroughly 
disliked  : 

"No  sustainable  objection  can,  of  course,  be 
made  to  Germans  visiting  a  watering-place  in 
their  own  country,  but  this  town  (Homburg) 
has  been  so  essentially  English  for  so  long  a  time, 
that  the  presence  of  '  foreigners  '  is  felt  to  be 
almost  an  intrusion.  I  do  not  defend  our  fas- 
tidious exclusiveness,  which  makes  us  detested 
in  almost  every  country  in  Europe,  but  merely 
note  the  fact.  The  English  are  a  warm-hearted, 
kindly  race,  but  this  insular  dread  of  foreign- 
ers colliding  unpleasantly  with  our  habits  and 
prejudices  causes  us  to  be  everywhere  misun- 
derstood." 

There  is  a  homely  little  rule,  not  yet  out  of 
date,  though  often  forgotten,  the  application  of 


234  German  Life 

which  would  enable  the  most  insular  and  pre- 
judiced of  us  to  judge  fairly  and  candidly  the 
spirit  of  these  reflections.  Suppose  a  German 
visiting  England  were  so  to  speak  of  Bath,  what 
outcries  against  foreign  impertinence,  what 
calls  for  prompt  measures  of  exclusion  against 
the  overbearing  alien  we  should  hear  !  The 
fact  is  that  there  is  very  little  misunderstand- 
ing regarding  us  and  our  ways  on  the  part 
of  the  "  foreigner,"  -we  are  so  blunt  as  to 
allow  him  no  excuse  for  that.  The  English 
who  create  for  their  nation  so  unenviable  a  reput- 
ation amongst  "  foreigners  "  -whom  we  so  call 
even  in  their  own  land — achieve  that  end  by  the 
simple  expedient  of  a  selfish  disregard  of  others. 
In  truth,  it  is  not  reserve  and  exclusiveness 
which  the  ''foreigner'  resents,  for  he  has  sel- 
dom any  wish  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  vis- 
itors who  do  not  take  the  trouble  to  disclose 
their  amiable  traits  ;  but  he  does  resent,  and 
resent  wrathfully,  the  snobbishness,  want  of 
consideration,  and  discourtesy  that  are  so  often 
shown  to  him  in  his  own  country  by  those  who 
have  invited  themselves  to  be  his  guests.  Eng- 
land has  of  late  years  known  something  of  the 
trials  of  "  splendid  isolation.''  They  have  prob- 
ably been  bracing  and  helpful  in  many  ways  ; 
they  have  certainly  left  her  wiser  and  soberer. 
But  it  is  no  special  virtue  to  stand  alone  when 
friends  can  be  had,  not,  indeed,  for  the  asking, 


o 

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Pleasures  and  Pastimes       235 

but  for  the  winning  ;  and  the  name  of  England 
would  sound  pleasanter  in  the  ears  of  more  than 
one  Continental  people,  if  those  who  travelled 
abroad  were  as  careful  to  take  good  manners 
with  them  as  good  money. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  BERLINER 

AN  Empire  made  up  of  many  States  and  not 
a  few  races  naturally  offers  very  distinct 
contrasts  of  character.  Thus,  the  Rhinelander 
stands  for  vivacity  and  light-heartedness  ;  he  is 
fond  of  pleasure,  and  looks  by  preference  on  the 
bright  side  of  life.  The  Bavarian  possesses  a 
character  of  heavier  calibre  ;  he  is  easy-going, 
and  a  good  fellow  to  get  on  with.  In  affairs  he 
represents  an  all-round  capacity  seldom  ascend- 
ing to  marked  prominence,  but  useful  and  prac- 
tical, if  prosaic.  The  Wurtemberger  is  homely 
and  canny,  shrewd  as  becomes  the  son  of  a 
pastoral  land,  but  genuine  and  trusty.  The 
Saxon  is  pushing  and  plodding,  not  brilliant, 
though  he  can  always  hold  his  own  ;  a  man 
given  to  thinking  and  acting  for  himself,  and 
beholden  to  nobody  for  counsel  or  countenance. 
More  than  any  other  branch  of  the  German 
family,  the  Prussian  specially  represents  the  im- 
perial, military,  and  official  spirit  ;  the  capacity 

236 


The  Berliner  237 

to  govern  is  pre-eminently  his.  Love  of  order, 
system,  discipline  has  been  developed  in  him 
under  the  influence  of  a  succession  of  able  rulers, 
who  led  their  people  as  well  as  drilled  them,  and 
who  invariably  carried  through  the  work  they 
took  in  hand.  He  unites  not  a  few  traits  of  the 
old  Roman  character.  In  temperament  he  is 
energetic  and  alert,  and  he  is  never  found  mak- 
ing poetry  when  his  house  is  on  fire  ;  while 
alive  to  the  serious  side  of  life,  he  is  by  no 
means  phlegmatic,  and  he  has  time  for  play  as 
well  as  for  work. 

Yet  no  German  type  possesses  a  stronger  in- 
dividuality than  the  true  son  of  the  Empire-city, 
Berlin,  though  his  evolution  has  been  the  work 
of  a  comparatively  few  years.  By  the  "  Ber- 
liner," as  he  is  understood  in  Germany,  and  is 
depicted  in  much  of  the  ephemeral  literature  of 
the  leisure  hour,  is  not  meant  either  the  cultured 
resident  of  the  metropolis  on  the  one  hand,  or 
his  neighbour  at  the  social  antipodes  on  the 
other,  though  nowhere  is  more  character  seen 
than  amongst  the  unlettered  folk  of  Berlin  ;  not 
the  colonists  of  suburban  villadom,  much  less 
the  members  of  the  military  caste,  or  of  that 
equally  close  corporation,  the  bureaucracy.  For 
note  well  that  not  every  resident  of  Berlin  is  a 
"  Berliner,"  nor  would  he  thank  you  for  insist- 
ing on  the  identity.  The  type  is,  indeed,  hard 
to  define  other  than  by  the  name  which  describes 


238  German  Life 

him  to  every  German  ;  for  the  word  "Berliner" 
tells  everything  there  is  to  know  about  him, 
sums  up  all  his  characteristics,  his  virtues,  his 
failings,  his  gay  abandon,  his  unfailing  good- 
humour,  his  irrepressible  comicality. 

Broadly,  the  typical  "  Berliners  "  form  a  com- 
posite section  of  the  metropolitan  population  to 
which  the  commercial,  the  minor  official,  and 
the  lowlier  grades  of  the  professional  class 
equally  contribute.  A  severe  critic  of  the  "  Ber- 
liner'' would  say  that  he  is  vulgar.  Fine  in 
feeling  he  is  not.  He  is  essentially  loud  and 
bourgeois  in  the  well-recognised  significance  of 
the  words,  limited  in  social  and  intellectual  out- 
look, ostentatious  and  fond  of  parade,  devoted 
(the  female  half  of  him)  to  gauds  and  dressiness, — 
the  "  Berlinerin '  will  picnic  in  the  Grunewald 
in  robes  fit  for  a  salon, — given  to  good  living, 
and  riotously  extravagant  in  his  pleasures  and  in- 
dulgences. Enter  his  dwelling,  and  though  all 
the  surroundings  should  betoken  comfort  if  not 
affluence,  you  will  find  few  books  there.  For  he 
does  not  read, — he  only  "takes  a  newspaper," 
by  preference  a  certain  enterprising  journal 
which  is  notorious  for  frivolity  and  misnamed 
piquancy. 

The  "  Berliner"  is  no  melancholic  by  temper- 
ament. The  shades  and  half-tones  of  life's 
picture  have  little  interest  or  attraction  for  him. 
He  is  a  born  optimist,  and  looks  at  the  world 


The  Berliner  239 

through  yellow  spectacles.  Time  brings  him 
but  one  message,  which  he  does  not  fail  to  hear 
and  honour:  "  Be  merry"  ;  and  in  ability  to 
get  satisfaction  out  of  his  existence  the  "  Ber- 
liner' is  unsurpassed.  It  may  be  said  that  to 
ignore  all  but  the  lighter  aspects  of  life  is  to 
miss  life's  proper  proportions,  and  that  the  philo-  . 
sophy  of  pleasure  is  of  necessity  shallow  and 
partial.  But  the  " Berliner'  is  a  practical  hed- 
onist, and  conscious  philosophy  of  life  he  has 
none. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  good-humour  of 
the  "Berliner."  He  has  an  inexhaustible  pa- 
tience, and  Mark  Tapley  himself  could  not  have 
been  merrier  under  difficulties.  Is  it  a  public 
event  which  draws  the  whole  city  into  the  streets, 

-a  royal  progress,  a  military  parade,  a  political 
demonstration?  The  "Berliner'  can  pleasur- 
ably  while  away  the  waiting  hours  as  no  other, 
and  keep  even  ponderous  gendarmes  in  good 
spirits.  Truly,  all  things  come  alike  to  him. 
Let  him  be  on  pleasure  bent,  and  nothing  can 
daunt  him  ;  pleasure  he  will  have,  even  though 
the  heavens  fall  in  the  most  disagreeable  of 
ways,  and  the  very  inconvenience  and  annoy- 
ances of  the  moment  are  turned  to  gay  account. 
The  meteorological  temperament  is  unknown 
to  him  ;  he  has  a  soul  superior  to  such  trivial- 
ities. On  a  wet  holiday  you  may  be  sure  to 
meet  him  in  the  forest  and  river  haunts  around 


240  German  Life 

the  metropolis  enjoying  himself  to  his  heart's 
content ;  if  not  contemplating  nature  from  the 
recesses  of  an  umbrella,  at  least  contemplating 
his  fellow-man  at  the  table  of  one  of  the  many 
tree-overshadowed  beer-gardens  which  he  there 
frequents,  and  which  are  an  essential  feature  of 
his  ideal  sylvan  landscape.  You  think  that  the 
rain  has  damped  his  ardour,  as  it  has  damped 
yours.  Not  a  bit  of  it  ;  with  wonderful  buoy- 
ancy his  spirits  rise  to  the  occasion,  and  out  of 
the  gloom  and  melancholy  (as  it  appears  to  you) 
of  his  surroundings  he  extracts  unfailing  joSlity. 
It  is  a  convenient  and  enviable  faculty,  that  of 
seeing  good  in  everything,  and  the  "Berliner' 
possesses  it  in  a  rare  degree.  To  him  the 
world  is  the  best  possible,  and  Berlin  is  its 
happy  cosmopolis.  In  passing,  the  invariable 
rule  may  be  laid  down  that  where  you  find  one 
"Berliner,"  you  may  safely  expect  to  come 
across  many  others  not  far  away,  for  the 
"Berliner'  is  gregarious;  he  moves  about  in 
flocks.  He  is  also  a  social  being,  and  wherever 
he  may  be,  and  whatever  he  may  be  about,  he 
must  consort  with  his  kind,  -  -which  is  neither 
you  nor  those  like  you,  but  his  fellow  "  Ber- 
liners."  But  it  is  when  throwing  himself  with- 
out restraint  into  his  pleasurable  occupations 
that  our  "Berliner'  shows  one  of  his  least 
dignified  sides.  Then  he  is  no  longer  a  man, 
but  a  child,  boisterous,  unruly,  and  hatter-mad. 


The  Berliner  241 

There  are  certain  favourite  breathing-places, 
not  far  separated  by  rail  from  the  German  cap- 
ital, which  are  shunned  as  though  they  were 
leper  settlements  at  those  periods  of  the  spring 
and  summer  when  the  ''Berliner'  is  wont  to 
indulge  his  questionable  propensity  for  "week- 
end excursions."  For  rest-seeking  people  to 
visit  them  in  such  an  association  is  impossible, - 
as  impossible  as  to  camp  out  in  a  zoological 
garden.  The  "Berliner'  means  no  harm,  of 
course,  and  it  is  not  his  fault  that  he  was  made 
with  the  spirits  of  a  schoolboy,  and  all  his  cap- 
acity for  mischief  ;  but  at  such  times  and  places 
his  company  is  not  the  most  delightful  to  cult- 
ivate,—  that  is  all. 

Decidedly  the  "Berliner's'  manners  are  not 
of  the  finest  order,  and  his  ideas  of  chivalry 
are  often  of  a  crude  and  undeveloped  kind. 
But  he  is  amiably  human  ;  his  instincts  are 
in  the  abstract  kindly  ;  and  he  is  emphatic 
on  the  principle  of  "  Live  and  let  live."  Though 
a  regular  theatregoer,  the  church  hardly  recog- 
nises his  face,  for  it  only  sees  him  when 
the  festivals  come  round,  or  when  he  is  bury- 
ing his  relatives.  There  is  a  certain  vein  of 
sentimentality  in  him,  but  he  is  not  a  philan- 
thropist. His  giving  is  spasmodic  and  uncert- 
ain ;  to-day  he  may  allow  himself  to  fall  into 
unheard-of  benevolence,- -for  a  "Berliner"; 
to-morrow  not  a  charity  in  Christendom  could 

16 


242  German  Life 

draw  from  him  a  doit.  As  likely  as  not  he 
compounds  his-  obligations  to  the  poor  by 
membership  of  the  ''Association  against  Men- 
dicancy," the  advantage  of  which  is  that  by 
paying  an  annual  subscription  of  several  shillings 
you  can,  with  a  good  conscience,  threaten  to 
kick  unfortunate  beggars  down-stairs,  and  can 
go  to  rest  every  night  conscious  that  you  have 
left  no  social  duty  undone.  The  "Berliner'  is 
said  to  be  humorous.  Humour,  like  charity, 
is  a  variable  quality,  and  that  which  passes  as 
wit  in  one  circle  of  society  would  be  voted  dull, 
flat,  and  soporific  in  another.  If,  therefore,  the 
"Berliner"  be  not  denied  this  claim,- -and  cert- 
ainly he  is  fond  of  jokes,- -the  qualification  is 
needed  that  our  definition  of  humour  must  not 
be  made  too  searching.  Nevertheless,  he  is  dis- 
tinctly ready  at  repartee,  and  many  of  his  witty 
sallies  are  embodied  in  the  impoverished  pro- 
verbial philosophy  of  the  metropolitan  bour- 


geoisie. 


The  'Berliner'  has  other  failings  than  those 
which  have  been  noted,  though  he  is  not  con- 
scious of  any  one, --the  most  convincing  proof 
of  his  humorous  sense  that  could  be  given. 
Perhaps  most  of  them  may  be  fairly  described 
as  the  faults  of  his  virtues.  An  inextinguish- 
able propensity  for  seeing  the  lighter  side  of 
things  inclines  him  to  an  exaggerated  fondness 
for  ridicule,  and  reverence  is  no  part  of  his 


The  Berliner  243 

character.  As  life  and  the  world  themselves 
are  a  joke,  everything  tangible  and  intangible 
is  a  fit  subject  for  jest  ;  and  as  his  humour  is 
not  always  of  the  fine  and  delicate  kind,  he  often 
falls  into  untoward  breaches  of  taste.  Nor  does 
he  learn  with  experience,  for  reflection  never 
comes  to  his  aid,  and  there  is  no  good  breeding  to 
put  a  period  to  his  extravagance  and  excess.  In 
fine,  though  the  "Berliner'  has  merits  of  a 
solid  kind,  he  has  not  yet  passed  the  infancy 
of  culture.  As  raw  material,  he  is  a  very  valu- 
able human  element,  but  he  needs,  so  to  speak, 
clarifying  and  working  up.  He  has  brain 
enough  ;  his  intelligence  is  strong  and  robust ; 
with  all  his  fondness  for  pleasure  and  beer- 
drinking  he  is  capable  of  any  amount  of  exertion 
when  the  spirit  of  work  is  on  him.  What  he 
needs  most  is  the  cultivation  of  qualities  of  mind 
and  heart  which  are  there  in  the  rough,  and 
whose  active  assertion  would  redeem  his  present 
ungainly  philistinism. 

The  mention  of  the  "Berliner'  inevitably 
suggests  the  gayer  aspects  of  German  life.  Few 
great  cities  more  abound  in  facilities  for  amuse- 
ment, and  none  uses  these  facilities  more  largely, 
than  Berlin.  Its  theatres  are  many,  and  every 
branch  of  the  drama  is  strongly  represented. 
The  character  of  all  the  serious  playhouses  is 
high,  and  several  at  least  of  the  private  ventures 
need  not  blush  by  comparison  with  the  Royal 


244  German  Life 

Theatre  itself.  The  opera,  too,  boasts  roya: 
patronage  and  a  special  home  of  its  own.  The 
concert  halls  are,  if  not  numerous,  excellent, 
and  nowhere  does  the  tone-artist  meet  with 
more  intelligent  audiences.  The  music  and 
variety  hall  is  also  there  in  every  grade  of  re- 
spectability, for  in  Berlin,  as  in  other  cities, 
there  is  here  a  shadowy  side  to  be  seen  or 
passed  over.  It  is  in  summer  that  the  pleasure- 
seeking  instincts  of  the  ''Berliner'  are  most 
actively  exercised.  Then  the  outdoor  life  which 
is  alone  possible  in  a  warm  climate  is  developed 
to  the  utmost.  The  Zoological  Gardens  and 
the  Exhibition  Park  are  favourite  rendezvous 
both  by  day  and  night,  and  a  hundred  spacious 
Vienna  cafes,  open  to  the  street,  are  not  suf- 
ficient to  contain  the  multitudes  which  are  at 
the  close  of  day  tempted  to  a  respite  from  the 
dull  actualities  of  life  by  the  brightness,  vivacity, 
and  innocent  gaiety  which  cause  these  public 
haunts  to  have  a  singular  attraction  for  leisurely 
people  of  a  certain  temperament. 

The  cafe  occupies  a  special  place  in  German 
life,  and  its  popularity  strikes  every  foreign 
visitor,  who,  as  likely  as  not,  soon  falls  himself 
to  some  extent  under  its  spell.  The  institution 
has  little  in  common  with  the  English  hotel,  less 
with  the  English  tavern,  and  none  at  all  with 
the  liquor  bar.  Though,  as  the  name  implies, 
coffee  is  a  staple  drink  in  these  places,  there  is 


The  Berliner  245 

TIO  restriction,  no  exclusion  ;  the  difference  lies 
rather  in  the  fact  that,  besides  being  a  regular 
and  irreproachable  house  of  refreshment,  it  is 
also  a  centre  of  the  most  decorous  sociability.  To 
the  cafe  husbands  can  take  their  wives,  brothers 
their  sisters,  and  mothers  their  children,  with- 
out fear  or  scruple.  You  will  never  hear  bad 
language,  and  you  will  never  see  drunkenness, 
either  by  day  or  night.  One  reason  for  the 
general  high  standing  of  these  places  of  resort 
is  the  consciousness  that,  as  they  are  intended 
for  everybody,  it  is  everybody's  business  and 
interest  to  see  that  their  good  fame  is  maintained. 
Frequently  there  is  attached  to  the  cafe  a  large 
garden,  and  in  summer-time  this  will  generally 
be  found  every  evening  filled  to  its  utmost 
capacity  by  respectable,  well-conducted  people. 
There  is  much  to  be  said  for  this  way  of  pass- 
ing the  closing  hours  of  a  sultry  day  in  towns, 
where  arbours  and  balconies  are  not  for  the 
million.  Indoor  intercourse  in  close,  stuffy 
rooms  at  home  is  more  or  less  a  matter  of 
physical'  torture  even  in  the  evening  hours, 
which,  in  the  height  of  the  German  summer, 
are  the  only  part  of  the  day  when  one  can  be 
said  humanly  to  live  ;  and  he  must  indeed  have 
a  soul  above  mundane  weaknesses  who  is 
insensible  to  the  amenities  of  cafe-garden  life 
under  such  circumstances.  What  can  be  pleas- 
anter  than  to  chat,  and  listen  to  well-played 


246  German  Life 

music,  in  the  open  air,  under  the  walnut  trees, 
by  the  light  of  countless  coloured  lamps,  with 
every  specific  which  civilisation  has  devised  for 
the  relief  of  weariness  and  thirst  within  call  ? 
It  is  not  difficult  to  explain  the  townsman's  de- 
votion to  his  cafe.  It  is  attractive  in  itself,  it 
ministers  to  the  genial,  social  instincts  which 
are  so  strong  in  the  German  nature,  and  it  is  in 
harmony  with  the  healthy  joie  de  mvre  which 
Germans  share  with  the  Southern  nations.  For 
the  French  term,  having  the  thing  itself,  the 
German  has  an  exact  equivalent  in  the  word 
Lebensfreude.  We  in  England,  lacking  the 
thing,  lack  the  phrase  also.  Simple  words  can 
be  the  most  faithful  of  indexes  to  a  nation's 
characteristics  ;  and  the  word  Gemilth  and  its 
derivatives,  none  of  which  can  be  translated 
into  English,  express  another  admirable  quality 
which  is  distinctively  German.  Gemuthlichheit 
describes  the  disposition  which  unites  good- 
nature with  the  comfortable  optimism  that  takes 
it  for  granted  that  all  is  well  with  the  world. 
"Do  not  send  a  philosopher  to  London,  and, 
for  Heaven's  sake,  do  not  send  a  poet,"  wrote 
Heinrich  Heine  in  his  English  Fragments ;  ''the 
grim  seriousness  of  all  things  ;  the  colossal 
monotony  ;  the  engine-like  activity  ;  the  mo- 
roseness  even  of  pleasure  ;  and  the  whole  of 
this  exaggerated  London  will  break  his  heart." 
It  was  the  German  love  of  life  as  a  thing  of 


The  Berliner  247 

delight,  of  poetry,  and  romance,  which  spoke 
in  Heine's  severe  but  not  wholly  unjust  diatribe. 
In  passing,  the  geniality  and  equanimity  which 
make  the  German  attractive  on  the  social  side, 
when  rightly  understood,  may  help  to  explain 
on  the  economic  side  the  quiet  energy  which 
has  enabled  him  to  attain  his  present  position 
in  the  commercial  race  of  the  world.  For  while 
he  knows  how  to  labour,  he  knows  also  how  to 
wait,  and  he  can  possess  his  soul  in  patience 
under  the  most  trying  circumstances,  fortified 
by  the  belief  that  all  things  will  come  round  to 
perseverance  and  persistence. 

But  if  it  is  love  of  geniality  rather  than  pure 
conviviality  which  sends  the  Germans  to  their 
cafes,  to  insinuate  insusceptibility  to  the  latter 
would  be  to  do  them  a  grievous  wrong.  De- 
scribing the  Germans  of  eighteen  centuries  ago, 
Tacitus  spoke  of  them  as  given  to  indulgence  in 
the  cup.  A  mighty  thirst  still  clings  to  the 
parent  race,  and  has  been  acquired  by  inheritance 
by  its  descendants  everywhere.  Germany  is  the 
peculiar  land  of  beer-brewing  and  beer-drinking, 
for  though  wine  is  both  produced  and  drunk  by 
preference  in  some  of  the  Southern  districts,  and 
is  extolled  by  most  of  the  students'  bacchanalian 
songs,  beer  is  emphatically  the  national  bever- 
age. The  odd  thing  is  that,  in  spite  of  the  uni- 
versal notions  about  the  German's  beer-drinking 
proclivities,  the  generally  accepted  statistics  of 


248  German  Life 

oeer  consumption  allot  to  England  a  prior  place. 
Yet  beer-drinking  is  very  variable  in  Germany 
itself.  Bavaria,  though  in  the  South,  is  the  beer- 
drinking  State  par  excellence,  with  a  consumption 
of  fifty-one  and  a  half  gallons  per  head  of  the 
population.  Wurtemberg  follows  with  forty- 
one  and  a  half  gallons,  Baden  with  twenty-four 
gallons,  and  North  Germany  (including  Prussia 
and  Saxony)  comes  last  with  twenty-one  and  a 
quarter  gallons  per  head;  while  the  average  for 
the  whole  country  is  twenty-five  and  a  quarter 
gallons.  Perhaps  no  more  significant  illustration 
could  be  found  of  the  different  lines  upon  which 
German  and  English  social  custom  and  tradition 
have  travelled  than  is  offered  by  the  views  which 
are  held  in  the  two  countries  regarding  the 
drinking  habit  and  the  temperance  question.  It 
has  come  to  be  recognised  as  orthodox  English 
fiscal  theory  that  alcoholic  beverages  should  be 
regarded  as  luxuries,  and  that  as  such  they  may 
properly  be  subjected  to  exceptional  taxation. 
In  Germany  such  a  view  would  hardly  occur  to 
a  Finance  Minister,  however  straitened  his  re- 
sources; there  beer  is  viewed  as  an  article  of 
food,  and  thus  as  a  necessity,  and  it  is  taxed 
accordingly. 

The  mode  of  taxation  is  peculiar,  and  not  uni- 
form throughout  the  country.  In  North  Ger- 
many the  Empire  raises  a  tax  of  two  shillings 
per  hundredweight  of  malt  and  corn  used  in 


The  Berliner  249 

brewing,  —  a  rate  which  has  existed  in  Prussia 
unchanged  almost  since  the  beginning  of  the 
century, — while  in  Bavaria,  Wurtemberg,  Baden, 
and  Alsace-Lorraine  higher  State  (instead  of  im- 
perial) taxes  are  levied,  though,  on  the  other 
hand,  these  States  pay  into  the  Imperial  Treasury 
annual  amounts  equivalent  to  the  proceeds  of  the 
North  German  tax  when  reckoned  per  head  of 
the  population.  Repeated  attempts  have  been 
made  by  the  Government  to  increase  the  imperial 
beer  tax,  but  thanks  to  a  universal  vested  interest 
in  this  popular  beverage,  there  is  hardly  a  party 
or  a  group  in  the  Reichstag  that  can  be  induced 
to  listen  to  the  proposal.  Even  the  import  duty 
on  beer  is  only  one  or  two  shillings  per  hundred- 
weight. The  entire  annual  proceeds  of  the  beer 
taxes  and  duties  which  are  raised  by  the  collective 
States  of  the  Empire  barely  amount  to  four  mil- 
lion pounds,  which  is  less  than  a  third  of  the 
amount  similarly  raised  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
with  its  much  smaller  population  ;  and  while  the 
beer  tax  per  head  averages  six  shillings  in  Eng- 
land, it  is  only  tenpence  in  North  Germany,  in- 
cluding Prussia  and  Saxony. 

As  to  restrictive  laws,  though  the  German 
loves  to  feel  the  paternal  arm  of  the  State  gird- 
ing him  around,  it  has  hitherto  proved  quite  im- 
possible to  obtain  public  approval  for  such  a 
regulation  of  the  drink  traffic  as  would  be  univers- 
ally regarded  in  England  as  wholly  inadequate. 


250  German  Life 

The  Imperial  Government  has  on  two  occa- 
sions during  the  last  twenty  years  seriously 
tried  to  legislate  upon  the  question,  but  without 
the  slightest  success  ;  and  it  is  noteworthy,  as 
illustrating  the  radical  difference  between  Ger- 
man and  English  political  parties  bearing  the 
same  name,  that  the  principal  opposition  came 
in  each  instance  from  the  Liberals,  whose  leader 
has  declared,  "Nothing  of  any  consequence  can 
be  done  to  discourage  drinking  by  police  and 
punishment."  It  is  not  long  since  a  congress  of 
German  jurists,  after  deliberation  and  debate 
over  the  question  whether  the  State  should  re- 
gard drunkenness  as  a  penal  offence,  passed  an 
emphatic  negative  resolution,  and  followed  this 
up  by  declaring  itself  against  any  special  legisla- 
tion to  combat  habitual  inebriety  and  dipsomania. 
Fairness  requires  the  admission,  however,  that 
in  spite  of  the  prodigious  amount  of  drinking 
which  goes  on,  drunkenness  is  far  less  common 
than  in  England,  and  from  the  standpoint  of 
public  and  private  sobriety  Germany's  reputation 
is  very  high.  It  is  noticeable,  too,  that  acute 
alcoholism  is  generally  the  result  of  the  drinking 
of  spirits,  and  in  a  less  degree  of  wine.  Beer 
may  make  people  stupid,  as  Prince  Bismarck 
once  said, --and  possibly  other  things  as  well  ; 
but  in  Germany  it  cannot  be  called  a  prolific 
source  of  inebriety.  The  reason  is  not  that  the 
German  beer-drinker  always  quaffs  wisely  and 


The  Berliner  251 

well,  but  that  the  majority  of  German  beers 
are  light,  and  are  as  little  comparable  with  the 
strong  English  ales  in  excitative  power  as  the  Ger- 
man country  wines  are  with  the  port  of  the 
South.  It  is  only  in  quite  recent  times  that  there 
has  sprung  up  in  Germany  a  temperance  move- 
ment on  the  lines  of  that  which  has  played  so 
large  a  part  in  English  social  life  for  over  half  a 
century.  The  movement  is  carried  on  by  an 
organisation  known  as  the  "  Association  against 
the  Misuse  of  Spirituous  Drinks,"  and,  though 
young,  its  influence  is  said  to  be  spreading 
rapidly  both  in  town  and  country. 


CHAPTER  XI 

POLITICAL  LIFE 

PROGRESSIVE  as  Germany  is  in  many  things, 
and  in  none  more  than  education,  it  may 
at  first  sight  seem  strange  that  in  political  ma- 
turity it  is  so  far  behind  the  Anglo-Saxon  coun- 
tries. Yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  all 
progress  is  relative  in  degree  and  variable  in 
character,  according  to  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances and  traditions  of  every  nation.  If,  there- 
fore, Germany  continues  to-day  to  be  a  country 
of  limited  autocracies,  the  reason  must  be  looked 
for  in  the  accidents  of  its  history.  Granting  also 
that  these  autocracies  are  not  compatible  with 
English  ideals  of  government,  the  statement  of 
that  fact  requires  as  a  correlative  the  admission 
that  English  ideas  of  government,  if  applied  in 
Germany  without  discrimination,  would  prove 
for  a  long  time  entirely  unworkable.  This  is 
said  not  in  defence  of  the  political  systems  under 
which  the  German  sovereigns  possess  so  much 
real  power,  the  people  so  little,- -for  whether 

252 


Political  Life  253 

these  are  good  or  bad  is  hardly  a  question  which 
the  outside  critic  is  called  upon  to  decide,- -but 
rather  by  way  of  explanation.  The  division  of 
the  country  into  so  many  petty  principalities,  the 
absence  during  so  long  a  period  of  its  history  of 
any  dominant  central  power,  the  wars  without 
and  the  feuds  within,  the  patriarchalism  which 
would  seem  to  be  indigenous  to  German  soil, — 
these  are  causes  sufficient  of  themselves,  with- 
out reference  to  peculiarities  in  the  national 
mind  and  character,  to  account  for  the  failure  of 
Germany  to  keep  abreast  with  the  more  liberal 
ideas  and  institutions  which  are  prevalent  in 
Western  lands.  Here,  however,  we  must  con- 
cern ourselves  with  the  facts  observable  to-day, 
rather  than  with  explanations  of  why  they  came 
to  be  as  they  are;  and  to  the  intelligent  English- 
man, brought  up  in  a  bracing  political  atmo- 
sphere, and  accustomed  to  forms  of  personal 
liberty  which  are  the  result  of  centuries  of  or- 
ganic development,  the  limitations  by  which 
political  and  civil  life  is  beset  in  Germany  are 
profoundly  interesting. 

The  sadness  with  which  the  Englishman,  by 
repute  at  least,  takes  his  pleasures  is  by  the 
German  -  -  who  is  more  than  a  match  for  him  in 
the  fine  art  of  living  rationally  and  happily  — 
allotted  to  politics.  A  pursuit  which  to  the 
Briton,  thanks  to  the  system  of  government  under 
which  he  lives,  and  to  the  opportunity  which  it 


254  German  Life 

affords  for  the  free  play  of  thought  and  speech, 
is  a  source  of  never-failing  interest  and  healthy 
mental  discipline,  is  to  most  Germans  one  of  the 
most  sterile  and  lugubrious  of  exercises.  It  is 
not  that  the  average  German  of  intelligence-  -at 
least  in  these  days  -  -  is  indifferent  to  politics,  for 
his  mind  is  too  alert,  too  critical,  too  inquiring 
to  ignore  so  uncommon  a  source  of  speculation 
and  controversy  ;  but  rather  that  politics  as  a 
practical  science  is  unprolific,  and,  so  to  speak, 
leads  him  nowhere. 

The  German  politician  is  certainly  stronger  on 
the  theoretical  than  the  practical  side,  and  in 
general  he  is  wonderfully  well  informed.  His 
interest  in  foreign  politics  is  far  greater  than  the 
Englishman's,  though  ignorance  and  misconcep- 
tion enough  prevail.  One  may  judge  of  the 
place  which  foreign  affairs  take  in  his  mind  from 
the  newspapers.  Not  merely  the  large  daily 
journals  but  the  smallest  weekly  provincial 
prints  devote  an  amount  of  space  to  foreign  let- 
ters and  to  leading  articles  discussing  foreign 
questions  which  will  never  be  seen  in  the  same 
sections  of  the  English  Press  ;  and  this  charac- 
teristic of  the  newspaper  is  no  untrue  reflection 
of  its  readers'  interests.  I  remember  meeting  in 
a  small  town  in  Central  Germany  a  communal 
schoolmaster,  who  had  for  years  made  a  study 
of  the  Irish  Home  Rule  question.  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's first  Bill  on  the  subject  was  at  the  time 


Political  Life  255 

jnder  discussion,  and  this  rural  politician  had 
mastered  every  one  of  its  details.  Not  only  so, 
but  he  had  long  before  elaborated  a  most  in- 
genious plan  of  his  own  for  the  pacification  of 
Ireland  and  the  satisfaction  of  the  legislative 
aspirations  of  the  Nationalists.  It  was  certainly 
original,  and  in  theory  it  worked  admirably;  the 
only  defect  was  that  it  failed  to  make  sufficient 
allowance  for  human  nature.  But  whoever 
heard  of  an  English  village  schoolmaster  making 
a  lifelong  study  of,  say,  the  settlement  of  the 
Polish  question,  or  the  treatment  of  the  Czechs  ? 
If  practical  politics  are  a  failure  in  Germany 
the  system  of  government  is  altogether  respons- 
ible, since  it  has  been  so  devised  as  to  afford  the 
very  slightest  inducement  to  participate  in  po- 
litical life,  and  absolutely  to  repel  those  who, 
though  capable  of  bringing  to  bear  upon  public 
questions  well-balanced  judgment  and  acute 
knowledge  of  the  world,  think  too  well  of  them- 
selves and  their  time  to  spend  their  lives  in 
ploughing  the  sands.  It  is  a  commonplace  as- 
sertion of  our  times — may  it  not  also  be  said 
that  the  allegation  is  a  symptom  of  the  all-pre- 
valent spirit  of  doubt  and  distrust  ? — that  popular 
parliaments  are  now  no  longer  merely  on  their 
trial,  as  they  were  said  to  be  a  generation  ago, 
but  have  proved  awkward  and  inefficient  devices 
for  applying  to  the  community  that  irreducible 
minimum  of  compulsion  which  is  of  the  essence 


256  German  Life 

of  good  government.  Under  the  parliamentary 
system  (so  it  is  said)  the  modern  legislator  is  apt 
to  mistake  vexatious  forms  of  coercion  for  legiti- 
mate regulation,  and  at  best  he  succeeds  in 
achieving  infinitesimal  results  in  return  for  a 
prodigious  expenditure  of  time.  Let  it  be  con- 
fessed that  our  parliamentary  machinery  has  not 
for  some  time  worked  with  the  ease  and  regu- 
larity and  success  which,  justifiably  or  not,  we 
have  been  wont  to  expect  of  it.  Yet,  at  any 
rate,  this  may  be  said  in  mitigation  of  the  defect, 
-if  defect  must  be  admitted,-- that  it  has  not 
arisen  from  any  lack  of  interest  or  activity  on 
the  part  of  those  who  direct  the  machinery,  or 
yet  those  who  furnish  it  with  motive  power. 
In  other  words,  it  is  not  slackness  of  political 
thought,  and  not  weakness  of  political  life,  of 
which  complaint  must  be  made  in  England,  in 
France,  in  the  United  States.  The  one  may 
have  suffered  in  tone  and  depth,  as  all  things 
must  suffer  in  an  age  characterised  by  haste  and 
restlessness,  the  other  have  suffered  in  motive 
and  direction,  but  the  decadence  in  each  case  is 
qualitative  only  :  in  pathological  language,  the 
malady  is  functional,  not  organic. 

In  Germany,  however,  it  is  quite  otherwise. 
There  political  life  suffers  from  an  inanition 
which  makes  health  and  vigour  impossible.  It 
fails  to  draw  to  it  the  nation's  best  talent  and 
energy  ;  it  fails  even  to  enlist  to  the  extent  that 


Political  Life  257 

is  desirable  its  cruder  and  less  disciplined  forces. 
And  the  reason  is  not,  as  might  be  alleged  in 
some  countries,  a  reaction  against  exaggerated 
democratic  tendencies,  for  these  tendencies  have 
never  been  allowed  to  get  out  of  hand  in  Ger- 
many, but  rather  the  absence  of  incentive,  of 
stimulus,  of  attraction.  But  here  we  stumble 
upon  contradiction  after  contradiction.  The 
Parliament  of  the  Empire — the  Imperial  Diet — is 
elected  upon  a  suffrage  far  broader  than  that 
which  exists  in  England,  yet  upon  the  policy  of 
the  Government  it  has  little  influence  save  nega- 
tively, and  upon  its  constitution  none  at  all.  I 
say  that  its  influence  is  negative,  since  th^  Diet's 
only  way  of  making  its  power,  such  as  it  is,  felt 
is  by  pursuing  a  course  of  resolute  opposition 
and  wilful  obstruction.  To  begin  with,  the 
highest  member  of  the  Government,  the  Impe- 
rial Chancellor,  is  chosen  by  the  unqualified  will 
of  the  Emperor,  by  whom  alone  he  can  be  re- 
moved from  office.  Parties  may  move  up  and 
down  on  the  see-saw  of  popular  caprice  and 
favour  ;  majorities  may  com^  and  go  ;  political 
leaders  may  rise  and  fall  ;  but  the  head  of  the 
Government  continues  the  same,  given  but  the 
grace  of  his  sovereign, — against  that  rock  neither 
Parliament  nor  populace  can  prevail.  So,  too, 
with  other  members  of  the  Government,  though 
they  are  fe\\  ;  it  is  the  imperial  breath  alone 

which  makes  and  unmakes  them. 
17 


258  German  Life 

But  while  the  Ministers  are  but  the  mouth- 
pieces of  their  master,  the  master  is,  so  far  as 
direct  legislative  authority  goes,  no  more  power- 
ful than  the  meanest  of  enfranchised  citizens. 
That  is,  he  cannot  himself,  by  constitutional 
right,  either  pass  a  law  or  prevent  one  from  be- 
ing passed.  Where,  then,  does  legislative  power 
rest?  In  two  places,--in  the  Federal  Council, 
and  in  the  elected  Diet,  which  bodies  divide  it 
between  them  equally.  Nominally,  either  can 
initiate  legislation  ;  in  fact,  neither  can  pass  a 
law  nor  repeal  one  without  the  co-operation  of 
the  other,  though  in  common  practice  the  Gov- 
ernment virtually  dictates  to  the  Diet  the  legis- 
lative programme  to  which  its  attention  shall  be 
given.  Hence  it  comes  about  that  the  functions 
of  the  Diet  are  almost  exclusively  critical.  Now 
and  then  a  party  or  a  private  member  is  fortun- 
ate enough  to  obtain  a  majority  for  a  measure  or 
a  resolution,  but  unless  the  Government  and  the 
Imperial  Chancellor  at  the  end  endorse  it,  his 
victory  is  barren.  There  are  resolutions  which 
have  been  passed  by  the  Reichstag  session  after 
session,  each  time  with  a  substantial  majority, 
yet  they  never  get  farther  than  a  formal  record 
in  the  parliamentary  proceedings,  and  the  time 
and  energy  which  have  been  needed  to  bring 
them  there  have  been  wasted.  Such,  for  exam- 
ple, is  a  resolution  on  the  subject  of  payment  of 
members.  This  practice  is  general  in  the  Ger- 


Political  Life  259 

man  monarchies — in  Prussia,  in  Bavaria,  in  Sax- 
ony, in  Wurtemberg — as  well  as  in  some  of  the 
smaller  States,  as  Baden  and  Hesse,  but  the  im- 
perial constitution  contains  a  provision  expressly 
forbidding  it  ;  and  though  the  Reichstag  has 
frequently  adopted  a  resolution  calling  on  the 
Government  to  cancel  this  prohibition,  the  ap- 
peal has  been  consistently  ignored.  Prince  Bis- 
marck did,  indeed,  concede  to  the  deputies  free 
railway  passes  for  the  duration  of  each  session, 
and  a  week  before  and  a  week  after,  but  this  was 
as  far  as  he  would  go,  and  his  successors  in  the 
Chancellorship  have  proved  equally  unyielding. 

In  the  State  Diets  popular  power  is  subject  to 
still  greater  checks.  There  the  governing  factors 
are  three,  the  Sovereign,  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
the  House  of  Deputies.  As  in  the  case  of  the 
Imperial  Reichstag,  the  Ministers  of  State  are 
chosen  by  the  Crown,  and  owe  responsibility  to 
it  alone.  The  Upper  House  is  also,  as  a  rule, 
the  compliant  creature  of  the  Government,  and 
it  can  always  be  relied  on  in  an  emergency  to 
repel  any  aggressive  movement  from  below. 
When  it  is  added  that  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
is  elected  on  oligarchic  principles,  applied  in  such 
a  fashion  that  large  masses  of  the  population 
have  no  representation  whatever,  it  will  easily  be 
understood  that  such  a  thing  as  popular  govern- 
ment, even  in  a  moderate  sense,  is  at  present 
inconceivable  in  Germany. 


260  German  Life 

It  is  only  during  parliamentary  elections  that  any- 
thing approaching  political  excitement  occurs,  and 
even  then  the  precautions  enacted  by  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  the  additional  measures  enforced  by 
the  police  authorities  have  the  effect  of  restrict- 
ing this  dangerous  mental  condition  to  the  ut- 
most. Nominally,  political  utterance  may  enjoy 
free  vent  at  such  times,  and  if  the  law  were 
equally  observed,  the  universal  right  of  public 
meeting  and  discussion  would  be  undisputed, 
but  in  practice  it  is  not  so.  Even  in  the  large 
towns  a  large  measure  of  police  control  is  ex- 
ercised ;  frequently  obstacles  are  carefully  thrown 
in  the  way  of  popular  assemblies ;  and  the  agents 
of  law  and  order  always  reserve  the  right  of  dis- 
missing such  gatherings  as  the  last  resort  should 
their  delicate  sense  of  political  propriety  be 
offended. 

In  rural  districts  free  action  is  still  more  diffi- 
cult. "  My  people  and  I,"  said  Frederick  the 
Great  once,  "have  come  to  the  mutually  satis- 
factory understanding  that  they  are  to  say  what 
they  please,  and  I  am  to  do  what  I  please." 
Other  times,  other  manners.  Germany  has  since 
then  come  into  the  possession  of  a  host  of  con- 
stitutions, each  intended  to  curb  the  power  of 
the  Crown  in  favour  of  the  people;  yet  if  the 
people's  power  to  act  for  themselves  has  in- 
creased, free  speech,  as  Englishmen  know  it,  is 
still  far  from  being  enjoyed.  Yet  the  relaxation 


Political  Life  261 

at  election  times  of  the  normal  condition  of  re- 
straint, slight  though  it  is,  is  a  welcome  relief  to 
the  democratic  parties.  As  soon  as  the  day  of 
election  is  officially  announced — for  a  uniform  day 
is  observed  throughout  the  Empire,  an  excellent 
arrangement  which  England  would  do  well  to 
copy — the  newspapers  of  these  parties  jubilantly 
bid  their  readers  bear  in  mind  that  "  From  to-day 
until  the  day  of  polling  the  consent  of  the  police 
is  no  longer  essential  to  the  circulation  of  elec- 
tioneering prints  in  the  streets  and  other  public 
places, "for  at  other  times  no  such  agitation  is 
permitted.  A  week  or  two  later  come  the  elec- 
tions, and,  in  reality,  nothing  could  be  tamer, 
whether  those  to  the  State  Diets,  or  those  to  the 
Imperial  Diet.  The  former  bodies  are  not  only 
elected  on  a  narrow  franchise,  but  election  is 
indirect. 

How  this  cumbersome  piece  of  machinery 
works  is  as  follows.  As  a  preliminary  measure, 
the  primary  electors  (Urw&hler)  choose  by  open 
voting  a  number  of  electors  proper  (Wahlmdn- 
ner),  and  the  actual  choice  of  candidates  is  made 
by  these,  who  likewise  vote  openly.  Where, 
as  in  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Saxony,  arid  other  States, 
the  exercise  of  the  franchise  is  made  dependent 
upon  the  payment  of  a  certain  amount  of  direct 
taxation,  large  sections  of  the  community  are 
debarred  from  any  immediate  interest  in  the 
elections,  and  the  voting  power  of  the  qualified 


262  German  Life 

electors  is  very  unequal.  In  Prussia  the  tax- 
payers are  divided  into  three  sections,  and  are 
so  classified  as  to  represent  equal  amounts  of 
taxation.  The  first  section  is  composed  of 
electors  who  pay  the  highest  taxes  to  the  amount 
of  one-third  of  the  whole  sum  ;  the  next  section 
is  made  up  of  that  number  of  taxpayers  whose 
aggregate  payments  make  up  a  second  third  of 
the  whole;  and  the  third  section  comprises  the 
smallest  taxpayers,  and  they  constitute  the  great 
majority.  These  primary  electors  choose  the 
electors  proper  in  the  proportion  of  one  to  every 
two  hundred  and  fifty  taxpayers  in  each  section. 
The  preliminary  elections  are  dreary  formalities. 
Though  the  purpose  is  strictly  political,  no  meet- 
ings may  be  held,  nor  may  there  be  any  public 
discussion  of  the  merits  or  claims  of  the  second- 
ary electors  for  whom  votes  are  to  be  cast.  The 
name  of  the  elector  is  called  out,  and  unless  he  is 
present  at  the  moment  he  forfeits  his  vote.  If 
present,  he  is  required  to  write  his  name  in  the 
poll-book  against  the  candidates  whom  he  de- 
sires to  support.  To  make  the  system --con- 
fused and  confusing  in  its  very  nature --more 
anomalous  still,  the  distribution  of  seats  in  Prus- 
sia is  based  on  the  census  of  1858  in  the  old 
provinces,  and  on  that  of  1867  in  the  newer. 
The  result  is  that  a  strange  medley  of  under-  and 
over-misrepresentation  exists.  Berlin,  for  ex- 
ample, should,  according  to  population,  have 


Political  Life  263 

twenty-three  seats  in  the  Diet,  but  it  has  only 
nine. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  not  suggested  that  the  sys- 
tem of  government  in  vogue  works  badly  so  far 
as  its  legislative  results  go.  One  might  go 
further  and  say  that  to  transplant  to  German  soil 
the  English  parliamentary  regime,  with  the  al- 
most unlimited  party  power  which  it  has  de- 
veloped, would  be  unequivocally  disastrous. 
Germany's  loss  is  rather  that  its  legislative  and 
electoral  arrangements  do  not  induce  the  best  of 
its  citizens  to  take  an  active  part  in  public  life  ; 
that  they  do  not  offer  to  these  the  bracing  intel- 
lectual stimulus  which  is  afforded  in  countries 
where  parliaments  are  something  more  than 
figure-heads  ;  and  that  they  deprive  the  nation 
generally  of  one  most  important  part  of  the  edu- 
cation and  discipline  of  life.  The  result  of  these 
various  discouragements  to  serious  participation 
in  the  elections  is  that  a  majority  of  the  enfran- 
chised do  not  take  the  trouble  to  vote.  While 
in  the  elections  to  the  Reichstag  some  seventy- 
five  per  cent,  of  the  whole  go  to  the  poll,  in  the 
Prussian  elections  not  more  than  thirty  per  cent, 
can  be  persuaded  to  exercise  this  right,  and  in 
the  rural  districts  the  proportion  often  falls  as 
low  as  ten  per  cent.  Not  only  so,  but  there  is  a 
strong  body  of  intensely  retrogressive  political 
opinion  bitterly  opposed  to  any  popularising  of 
the  existing  parliamentary  institutions.  It  is 


264  German  Life 

found  in  those  same  parties-  -the  Conservative 
and  the  Ultramontane  -  -  which  quite  recently 
voted  in  the  Reichstag  for  the  taxing  of  sea  pas- 
sengers' tickets,  on  the  ground  (as  the  Clerical 
leader  said)  that  "nowadays  people  travel  too 
much  ;  it  would  be  better  if  they  stayed  at 
home."  Hence,  when  a  year  ago  the  Imperial 
Government  undertook  to  repeal  certain  anti- 
quated legislation  which  prevented  the  combina- 
tion of  political  and  other  societies,  it  was 
against  the  furious  protests  of  the  reactionary 
parties,  which  deplored  the  contemplated  act  as 
a  dangerous  concession  to  dangerous  modern 
.  tendencies.  It  is  not  long  since  a  well-known 
Government  official  published  a  pamphlet  flatly 
advocating  the  temporary  disbanding  of  the 
Reichstag,  the  suspension  of  those  portions  of 
the  constitution  which  relate  to  it,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  out-and-out  dictatorship. 

"It  is  only  a  dictatorship,"  he  wrote,  "that 
can  direct  the  healthy  elements  in  the  State  into 
the  right  path.  Let  men  out  of  every  class  of 
the  population,  and  of  every  professional  posi- 
tion, request  the  Emperor  to  induce  the  Federal 
Council  to  take  the  sole  legislative  power  into  its 
hands  for  three  years.  It  is  imaginable  that  the 
Federal  Council  might  demand  this  authority 
from  the  Imperial  Diet,  which,  in  case  of  refusal, 
would  simply  be  dissolved.  The  dictatorship, 
toned  down  in  accordance  with  the  nature  of 


Political  Life  265 

the  German  Empire  by  being  conferred  upon 
the  members  of  the  Federation,  is  inexorably 
required  at  the  present  moment." 

When  it  is  added  that  these  words  are  not 
those  of  a  political  novice,  but  express  the  ma- 
ture opinions  of  a  man  whose  whole  career  has 
been  passed  in  the  very  heart  of  political  life, 
their  weight  and  significance  can  be  judged.  I 
have  known  educated  men  in  private  life  who 
have  seriously  advocated  the  same  return  to  un- 
restricted autocracy.  "  What  do  we  want  with 
a  Parliament?'  said  one  to  me.  "Our  Gov- 
ernment knows  what  is  good  for  us.  I  do  not 
wish  to  vote  ;  all  I  care  for  is  to  be  told  what 
taxes  I  must  pay,  and  then  to  be  left  alone." 
Yet  the  speaker  knew  England  well,  and  had 
lived  for  years  in  the  United  States.  This  is,  I 
grant,  an  extreme  form  of  educated  obscurant- 
ism ;  though  rare  it  is  certainly  not  in  two,  at 
any -rate,  of  the  great  national  parties. 

The  German  voter  has  a  greater  toleration  and 
respect  than  the  English  for  the  carpet-bag  poli- 
tician. The  candidates  who  seek  the  Conserv- 
ative vote  and  interest,  for  the  most  part  in  the 
"county'  or  rural  constituencies,  are  in  the 
majority  of  cases  local  magnates- -sub-prefects 
(Landrdthe),  large  landowners,  and  the  like. 
The  Liberal  and  Social  Democratic  parties,  how- 
ever, are  compelled  to  rely  very  largely  upon 
champions  who  combine  politics  with  the 


266  German  Life 

pursuit  of  a  profession,-  -  principally  the  law  and 
journalism, — and  not  a  few  of  the  parliamentary 
representatives  of  these  parties  have  no  direct 
interest  whatever,  either  by  residence  or  posi- 
tion, with  their  constituencies,  but  live  and 
work  in  the  metropolis.  A  late  Reichstag  con- 
tained no  fewer  than  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
landed  proprietors  and  farmers,-  -  most  of  the 
latter  belonging  to  the  newly  formed  Farmers' 
Alliance,- -one  hundred  and  ten  members  of  the 
legal  profession,  forty  authors  and  journalists 
(chiefly  the  latter),  twenty  clergymen  (largely 
Catholic),  eighteen  provincial  mayors,  and, 
amongst  the  rank  and  file,  one  chimney-sweep. 
One  peculiarity  of  the  elections  to  the  Imperial 
Diet  which  has  attracted  attention  in  England  at 
various  times  is  the  institution  of  the  second 
ballot  The  constitution  requires  that  to  the 
due  election  of  a  candidate  he  shall  obtain  an 
absolute  majority  of  all  the  votes  recorded. 
Where  the  candidates  are  three  or  more  in 
number,  and  none  of  them  secures  the  requisite 
majority  of  more  than  one-half  the  aggregate 
poll,  the  two  candidates  who  stand  highest  must 
poll  again  within  the  next  fourteen  days  on 
exactly  the  same  register  of  electors.  Should 
several  candidates  be  eligible  for  a  second  ballot 
owing  to  an  equality  of  votes  having  occurred, 
choice  is  made  amongst  them  by  drawing  lots. 
In  the  case  of  the  second  ballot,  too,  an  absolute 


cr 

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LU 

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_I 

cr 
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LJ 

0- 


Lu 


Political  Life  267 

majority  carries  the  day,  but  in  the  event  of  a 
tie  resulting  the  decision  is  by  lot. 

It  is  a  much-debated  question  how  far  useful 
the  second  ballot  is  in  Germany  as  a  means  for 
allowing  large  minorities  to  obtain  a  parliament- 
ary voice  proportionate  to  their  strength.  In 
the  abstract  its  value  appears  indisputable,  but 
the  question  cannot  be  judged  in  the  abstract, 
and  no  degree  of  theoretical  perfection  will  out- 
weigh defect  and  failure  in  practice  should  they 
prove  to  be  the  verdict  of  experience.  That  the 
second  ballot  is  but  a  poor  makeshift  as  an  at- 
tempt at  proportional  representation  is  best 
shown  by  its  actual  working,  though,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  may  be  objected  that  Germany  is 
not  a  fair  field  for  an  experiment  of  this  kind, 
because  of  its  multiplicity  of  parties  and  the 
strained  relationship  which  exists  between  most 
of  them.  Disregarding  several  small  groups, 
no  fewer  than  ten  recognised  parties  have  been 
represented  in  the  Imperial  Diet  for  the  past 
generation,  and,  counting  every  named  group, 
there  are  seventeen  divisions  to-day,  while,  in 
the  interval,  six  have  disappeared,  or  have  been 
absorbed  in  other  groups.  Some  of  these  par- 
ties are  able  to  work  together  under  normal 
circumstances,- -for  example,  the  Conservatives 
with  the  Imperial  party,  and  as  a  rule  with  the 
National  Liberals  ;  the  Radical  Union  with  the 
Radical  People's  party,  and  occasionally  with 


268 


German  Life 


the  National  Liberals,- -but,  in  general,  opposi- 
tion is  characterised  by  decided  antipathies,  and 
not  infrequently  by  quite  needless  asperity.  This 
unamiable  relationship  of  parties  has  its"  natural 
result.  Instances  might  be  quoted  from  every 
election  where,  owing  to  the  absolute  uncert- 
ainty of  natural  alliances  and  straight  voting, 
a  constituency  gets  for  its  deputy  not  the  can- 
didate who  represents  the  strongest  homogene- 
ous party,  but  the  one  who  is  able  to  bring 
about  the  most  unlikely  combination  of  votes. 
Such  results  do  not  necessarily  discredit  the 
second  ballot  on  general  principles,  but  they  do 
show  that  the  peculiar  case  of  Germany  proves 
it  to  be  no  counsel  of  perfection,  and  affords 
no  assurance  that  by  its  operation  anything 
more  than  the  roughest  justice  will  be  meted 
to  the  contesting  parties. 


CHAPTER  XII 

LOCAL  GOVERNMENT 

IN  a  country  of  so  many  territorial  divisions  as 
Germany  it  is  inevitable  that  uniformity  in 
local  government  must  not  be  expected.  In- 
deed, it  was  only  at  the  beginning  of  the  past 
year  that  a  universal  code  of  imperial  civil  law 
came  into  operation,  and  that  thus  the  last  im- 
portant link  of  Empire --if  we  overlook  the 
special  position  allowed  to  Bavaria  and  Wurt- 
emberg  in  military  and  postal  matters  —  was 
forged.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  a  commis- 
sion of  experts  was  engaged  in  reducing  to 
order  the  bewildering  maze  of  conflicting  laws 
which  was  one  of  the  accumulated  anomalies  of 
State  disunity.  The  judicial  systems  which 
were  in  full  force  up  to  1871  were  not  even 
German  in  origin.  In  some  States  there  was  a 
strong  national  element,  but  in  general  foreign 
influence  preponderated.  The  legal  fiction 
which  regarded  the  "Roman  Empire  of  the 
German  Nation  "  as  the  lineal  descendant  of  the 

269 


270  German  Life 

ancient  Roman  Empire,  and  the  German  Empire 
therefore  as  perpetuating  the  Roman-Imperial 
tradition,  accounts  for  the  widespread  influence 
of  Roman  law.  On  the  other  hand,  in  those 
portions  of  the  Empire  which  had  been  under 
French  influence  or  absolute  domination-  -as  on 
the  Rhine,  in  Baden,  and  in  Alsace-Lorraine  — 
the  Code  Napoleon  still  held  good  ;  and  con- 
fusion was  aggravated  by  the  permeation  of 
these  systems  of  law  by  German  elements. 
The  Empire  had  not  long  been  established  be- 
fore the  criminal  law  and  judicial  procedure 
were  made  uniform  throughout  the  country, 
and  now  that  the  same  has  been  done  with  the 
civil  law  the  last  remnant  of  judicial  chaos  has 
disappeared,  and  throughout  Germany  the  prin- 
ciple applies  at  last  without  reservation,- -one 
citizenship,  one  law. 

But  while  the  laws  which  affect  Germans  in 
their  capacity  as  citizens  of  the  Empire-  -  that  is, 
the  laws  bearing  on  their  political  and  civil 
status — have  been  made  identical,  the  laws 
which  regulate  their  municipal  and  local  life 
continue  as  before  to  be  the  province  of  the 
individual  States,  and  for  the  majority  of  men 
and  women  it  is  these  laws  which  are  of  most 
consequence,  since  they  affect  most  deeply,  or 
at  least  most  visibly,  their  common  interests 
and  welfare.  In  the  towns  the  system  of  gov- 
ernment does  not  differ  greatly  in  principle  from 


Local  Government  271 

the  English,  though  there  are  certain  important 
deviations  in  matter  of  detail.  One  is  the  ab- 
sence of  that  extreme  multiplicity  of  public 
authorities,  each  specially  elected  for  a  distinct 
purpose,  which  has  grown  up  in  England.  The 
Germans  have  their  Poor-law  and  School  Boards, 
but  they  are  otherwise  named  and  created  than 
in  England,  being,  in  fact,  mere  departments  of 
the  central  administrative  Council  of  the  town. 
In  this  way  multiplicity  of  election,  conflict  of 
authority,  and  plurality  of  rating  powers  are 
obviated.  For  the  discharge  of  poor-law  func- 
tions the  services  of  inhabitants  other  than  Town 
Councillors  are  generally  invited,  and  the  law 
requires  compliance  with  such  calls  to  public 
duty  under  penalty,  save  in  certain  exceptional 
and  clearly  defined  circumstances. 

The  Prussian  Town  Council  differs  from  the 
English  in  two  very  important  points.  Along- 
side the  elected  body  there  exists  a  more  or  less 
permanent  committee,  whose  functions  are  ex- 
ecutive,--the  Magistrat.  As  in  England,  it  is 
the  Council's  duty  to  pass  resolutions,  and  in 
general  to  decide  what  shall  or  shall  not  be 
done  ;  but  it  falls  to  the  Magistrat  to  initiate 
most  proposals,  and  to  carry  out  all  the  behests 
of  the  elected  Assembly.  This  executive  is  com- 
posed as  a  rule  of  the  Mayor,  a  certain  number 
of  paid  officials,  who  preside  over  special  de- 
partments of  municipal  life,  -as  education, 


272  German  Life 

i 

sanitation,  the  poor  law,  etc., — and  other  honor- 
ary members.  It  may  be  a  question  whether  we 
shall  not  have  to  come  to  some  contrivance  of 
the  same  kind,  owing  to  the  steady  multiplica- 
tion of  the  duties  of  Town  Councils  in  these 
days  of  municipal  enterprise,  and  the  example 
is  at  least  worth  bearing  in  mind.  Not  the 
wisest  of  Town  Councillors  can  know  every- 
thing, nor  the  most  public-spirited  have  time 
for  everything  ;  and  now  that  municipalities  are 
setting  up  as  traders  in  so  many  directions — as 
in  the  supply  of  water,  gas,  electric  light,  electric 
power,  tramways,  workmen's  dwellings  and 
lodging-houses,  abattoirs,  and  even  sterilised 
milk — administrative  efficiency  may  quite  con- 
ceivably require  the  larger  Corporations  to  call 
in  the  services  of  similar  bodies  of  experts,  who 
shall  give  to  the  management  of  public  under- 
takings the  careful  supervision  they  need.  The 
German  Mayor  has  not  an  exact  equivalent  in 
England.  He  is  a  paid  official,  and  is  chosen 
by  his  Council  for  a  term  of  years.  His  func- 
tions are  both  presidential  and  legal,  and  he  may 
be  said  to  combine  the  positions  of  both  the 
English  Mayor  and  Town  Clerk.  As  a  rule, 
therefore,  he  is  a  trained  lawyer,  thoroughly 
versed  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  local  gov- 
ernment, and  the  importance  and  emoluments 
of  the  office  cause  it  to  be  greatly  valued. 

In   general,    very  commendable    readiness   is 


Local  Government  273 

shown  to  accept  and  even  to  seek  municipal 
office,  even  though  the  highest  civic  position, 
for  the  reason  explained,  is  not  open  to  ambi- 
tion. Not  only  so,  but  remarkable  enterprise 
is  thrown  into  local  government,  and  many  of 
the  larger  German  towns  have  much  to  teach 
other  countries  in  this  respect,  even  if  they  can 
also  learn  from  them  in  turn.  Capitals  are  not 
always  models  of  administration  ;  but  it  may 
be  questioned  whether  on  the  whole  there  is 
a  better  governed  city  in  the  world  than  Berlin. 
The  sanitary  arrangements  are  exemplary  of 
their  kind.  The  sewage  system  is  as  perfect, 
alike  in  principle  and  machinery,  as  scientific 
knowledge  and  unsparing  expense  can  make  it. 
The  drainage  of  the  vast  administrative  area  is 
conveyed  by  an  elaborate  "  canalisation '  sys- 
tem to  an  extensive  farm  some  miles  away, 
where  it  is  utilised  in  irrigation.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note,  too,  that  this  irrigation  farm  serves 
a  double  purpose,  inasmuch  as  the  labour  em- 
ployed upon  it  is  obtained  from  the  adjacent 
Rummelsburg  Workhouse,  to  which  certain 
classes  of  Berlin's  criminal  and  otherwise  vicious 
population  are  despatched.  The  poorest  of  the 
poor  are  required  at  least  to  keep  their  dwellings 
clean,  and  in  default  the  sanitary  authorities 
summarily  enter  into  temporary  occupation,  and 
do  it  for  them,  meanwhile  sending  the  occu- 
pants to  lodgings  elsewhere.  The  calamity 

18 


274  German  Life 

which  befell  Hamburg  in  the  cholera  epidemic 
of  1892,  which  took  that  city  by  surprise,  and 
for  a  time  paralysed  its  entire  system  of  health 
control,  has  somewhat  prejudiced  Germany's 
reputation  for  public  sanitation  ;  but  the  way  in 
which  the  public  health  authorities  of  Berlin  met 
the  pest  and  conquered  it  spoke  volumes  for 
their  preparedness  and  t  organising  capacity. 
Though  connected  with  Hamburg  by  a  line  of 
railway  over  which  thousands  of  persons  trav- 
elled each  day,  few  cases  were  imported  into 
Berlin  over  which  the  Sanitary  Board  had  any 
control  whatever,  and  the  cholera  fiend  alto- 
gether failed  to  get  a  hold  in  the  city.  Railway 
passengers  from  the  infected  seaport  were  de- 
tained at  the  Berlin  terminus  and  examined,  arid 
the  suspicious  of  them  were  promptly  bathed 
and  their  clothes  stoved,  before  they  were 
allowed  to  pass  into  the  street.  The  most 
admirable  arrangements  were  made  for  isolating 
every  case  which  occurred,  while  an  effectual 
system  of  quarantine  and  examination — whose 
grasp  nobody  could  elude — was  established, 
and  so  one  of  the  most  vulnerable  towns  in 
Germany,  geographically  speaking,  was  pro- 
tected against  an  unspeakable  disaster. 

In  Berlin,  too,  the  public  convenience  in  re- 
gard to  transit  is  consulted  in  every  possible 
way.  The  streets  are  excellently  made  and 
faultlessly  maintained,  thanks  to  the  existence  of 


Local  Government  275 

a  perfect  army  of  scavengers,  who  haunt  the 
thoroughfares  day  and  night.  To  mention  one 
matter  only,  the  arrangements  for  the  removal 
of  snow  in  winter  might  be  the  envy  of  many 
an  English  town.  Snow  may  fall  the  night 
through,  yet  in  the  morning  little  trace  will  be 
visible  ;  and  the  fact  that  the  corporation  of  the 
city  pays  as  much  as  ,£35,000  in  one  winter  for 
the  removal  of  snow  will  attest  the  importance 
that  is  attached  to  facility  of  traffic  and  locomo- 
tion. A  thorough  system  of  tramway  com- 
munication exists,  under  the  careful  oversight 
of  the  police  authority,  which  similarly  regulates 
the  number,  character,  movements,  and  fares  of 
every  droschky  which  plies  within  the  city 
boundaries.  The  fire  brigade  of  Berlin  is  too 
highly  esteemed  abroad  to  call  for  special  men- 
tion. The  postal  arrangements,  too,  are  in 
every  way  admirable.  A  post-box  is  found 
at  almost  every  street  corner,  and  nowhere  is  it 
necessary  to  walk  more  than  a  couple  of  minutes 
before  finding  a  post-office,  and  while  the  tele- 
graph service  is  both  efficient  and  cheap,  a 
pneumatic  post  for  the  speedy  despatch  of  small 
letters  has  for  many  years  proved  a  great  boon 
to  the  inhabitants.  Added  to  this,  the  State  per- 
mits, both  in  Berlin  and  elsewhere,  the  opera- 
tion of  a  city  post, — a  private  enterprise,  which 
receives  and  delivers  letters  and  small  consign- 
ments, within  the  municipal  boundaries  only, 


276  German  Life 

at    a   much    lower   charge    than    the   imperial 
post. 

The  welfare  of  the  working  classes  is  pro- 
moted by  a  number  of  municipal  institutions 
which  would  be  well  worthy  of  special  treatment 
were  this  the  proper  place.  Under  the  care  of 
the  Town  Council  an  efficient  system  of  labour 
bureaux  is  maintained,  and  work-seekers  are 
allowed  to  register  themselves  without  fee  ; 
while  during  the  severe  winter  months,  manual 
employment  is  offered  to  bona-fide  working-men 
who  are  without  means  of  subsistence.  Free 
night  shelters  are  also  kept  open  for  the  home- 
less at  the  public  expense.  In  public  parks  Ber- 
lin is  not  particularly  rich  considering  its  size  ; 
but  the  reason  is  that  in  the  Thiergarten  it  pos- 
sesses a  noble  wood  of  great  dimensions  within 
easy  access,  and  that  this  is  so  excellently  laid  out 
and  maintained,  that  it  virtually  serves  as  the 
breathing-place  of  the  entire  city.  The  subur- 
ban railways  also  offer  every  facility  for  reaching 
the  attractive  forests  which  surround  the  me- 
tropolis. Nevertheless,  the  industrial  quarters 
all  have  their  own  little  parks  and  playgrounds  ; 
in  busy  centres  disused  graveyards,  suitably 
planted  and  seated,  are  also  thrown  open  to  the 
public  ;  and  the  municipal  authorities  have 
turned  many  of  the  wide  thoroughfares  into 
avenues,  which  are  not  only  beautiful  in  them- 
selves, but  in  summer  offer  welcome  shade 


Local  Government  277 

against  the  tropical  sun  which  beats  upon  the 
sandy  Mark  of  Brandenburg.  In  fine,  Berlin  is 
a  bright  example,  and  one  that  will  bear  careful 
study  by  English  municipalities,  of  what  can  be 
done  for  the  public  health,  convenience,  and 
welfare  where  intelligence  and  enterprise  go 
hand  in  hand. 

In  provincial  government  a  very  different  or- 
ganisation prevails.  The  system  is  highly  com- 
plex and  efficient  enough  as  a  system,  but  it 
allows  much  less  scope  for  civic  activity  than  is 
enjoyed  in  the  towns.  Here,  especially,  we  are 
confronted  with  that  State  officialism  which  plays 
so  large  a  part  in  German  public  life,  and  in 
noticing  it  the  political  aspect  of  the  question 
cannot  be  overlooked.  Taking  Prussia  still,  as 
the  best  example  available,  the  first  administra- 
tive division  of  the  country  is  seen  to  be  into 
provinces,  the  heads  of  which  are  the  Chief 
Presidents,  paid  officials  appointed  by  the 
Crown,  and  to  it  alone  responsible.  These 
Chief  Presidents  exercise  a  general  supervision 
over  the  administrative  authorities  of  their  pro- 
vinces, and  their  powers  of  control  are  very 
large.  The  province  is  divided  into  Government 
Districts  (or  High  Bailiwicks,  as  they  are  called 
in  Hanover).  At  the  head  of  each  is  the  Gov- 
ernment President,  answering  to  the  French 
Prefect.  Below  the  Districts  come  the  Circuits 
(the  equivalent  of  the  French  arrondissement), 


278  German  Life 

at  the  head  of  each  of  which  is  the  Landrath, 
or  Sub-prefect.  The  Circuit,  which  is  the  ad- 
ministrative unit,  may  be  either  (i)  urban,  where 
a  town  forms  a  separate  Circuit  for  self-govern- 
ment purposes,  or  (2)  rural,  where  various  par- 
ishes or  manors,  or  both,  are  united  to  form  a 
Circuit.  Rural  Circuits  are  further  divided  for 
police  purposes  into  petty  sessional  divisions  or 
hundreds,  each  with  an  unpaid  superintendent. 
For  each  of  these  administrative  divisions  there 
is  a  corresponding  assembly.  The  province  has 
first  its  Diet,  which  meets  periodically  for  the 
transaction  of  purely  provincial  affairs,  and  is 
convened  and  dismissed  by  royal  decree.  For 
the  management  of  current  provincial  business 
there  is  a  Standing  Committee,  consisting  of  the 
Landes-director  and  a  variable  number  of  elected 
provincial  deputies,  all  of  whom  are  nominated 
by  the  Diet.  Communication  between  the  Diet 
and  the  Government  is  carried  on  through  the 
Chief  President  of  the  province,  who  watches 
the  doings  of  the  Diet  on  the  Government's 
behalf.  Again,  the  Government  District  has  its 
separate  administration,  with  departments  for 
internal  affairs,  church  and  school,  domains, 
forests,  and  taxes,  and  the  Chief  President  is, 
as  a  rule,  its  head.  Finally,  the  Circuits  have 
their  Diets,  elected  by  the  towns,  the  rural 
parishes,  and  the  large  landowners,  and  presided 
over  by  the  Landrdthe. 


Local  Government  279 

It  must  not  be  imagined,  however,  that  this 
system  of  local  government,  though  containing 
so  strong  an  elective  element,  gives  to  the  peo- 
ple the  freedom  of  action  which  is  possessed  in 
England.  On  the  contrary,  Government  and 
bureaucratic  influence  makes  itself  very  power- 
fully felt  in  every  direction.  Before  the  repre- 
sentative authorities  are  allotted  their  duties,  State 
officials,  as  well  as  the  police,  have  reserved  for 
themselves  many  of  the  most  important  powers 
and  functions  of  civil  government.  The  Presid- 
ent of  the  Province,  indeed,  has  an  almost  un- 
limited power  of  veto,  which,  on  occasion,  he 
exercises  in  the  smallest  as  well  as  the  largest 
matters.  For  example,  a  year  or  two  ago  the 
Municipal  Council  of  Berlin  decided  by  formal 
vote  to  send  a  wreath  to  the  famous  little  ceme- 
tery of  Friedrichshain,  in  which  the  victims  of 
the  March  Revolution  of  1848  are  buried.  That 
event,  correctly  or  not,  has  always  been  re- 
garded by  the  popular  parties  of  Prussia  as  mark- 
ing, and,  indeed,  creating,  the  era  of  constitutional 
government;  and  considering  the  part  played  in 
it  by  the  King  of  Prussia  of  that  day,  it  would 
be  idle  to  view  it  as  a  piece  of  mere  political 
incendiarism.  In  England  a  statue  can  be  erected 
in  the  very  precincts  of  Parliament  in  token  that 
Lord  Protector  Cromwell  occupies  a  recognised 
place  in  English  history,  and  the  Crown  is  too 
sensible  because  too  stable  to  take  offence. 


280  German  Life 

The  sentimental  act  of  the  Berlin  Council  was 
promptly  prohibited  by  the  terror-stricken 
President  of  the  Province  of  Brandenburg,  and 
it  had,  of  course,  to  be  abandoned.  In  England 
no  power  exists  which  could  have  maintained 
such  a  prohibition,  and  did  it  exist  one  can 
hardly  imagine  the  veto  being  exercised.  Yet  it 
would  be  wrong  to  suppose  that,  either  in  town 
or  country,  any  great  dissatisfaction  with  the 
existing  state  of  things  prevails.  The  citizens 
bear  the  bureaucratic  yoke  patiently,  even  where 
it  sits  most  heavily  upon  them,  and  console 
themselves  with  the  reflection  that,  if  everything 
is  not  done  as  well  as  it  might  be,  the  fault  is 
not  theirs. 

But,  though  civil  government  may  not  suffer, 
great  harm  is  done  all  the  same  by  the  stilling  of 
public  spirit.  No  one  can  live  long  in  Germany 
without  being  struck  by  the  effects  upon  the 
national  character  of  patriarchal  and  bureaucratic 
rule.  These  effects  are  manifold,  and  are  ob- 
servable on  every  hand.  Just  as  the  military 
system  has  produced  a  people  wonderfully 
amenable  to  order  and  discipline,  so  the  bureau- 
cratic system  of  government  has  created  a  spirit 
of  meek  forbearance  and  unmanly  dependence 
in  civil  life;  the  one  result  is  excellent,  the  other 
in  every  way  harmful.  Hence  come  the  absence 
of  that  vigorous  public  life  which  one  is  accus- 
tomed to  find  in  countries  of  free  institutions 


Local  Government  281 

and  a  large  indifference  towards  national  and 
local  affairs  equally.  And  though,  as  has  been 
said,  many  cities  and  towns  are  conspicuous  for 
enlightened  administration,  it  is  generally  where 
party  feeling  happens  to  be  acute,  and  where 
Radicals  and  Socialists  range  themselves  on  the 
side  of  progress  and  enterprise  in  opposition  to 
the  Conservative  preference  for  wariness  and 
moderation  in  all  things.  The  huge  system  of 
officialism  has  the  further  effect  of  discouraging 
the  spirit  of  voluntary  service.  There  are  thou- 
sands of  paid  officials  in  Germany  performing 
duties  which  in  England  are  done  as  well  by  the 
people  themselves,  through  elected  bodies,  or  by 
private  citizens,  whose  only  reward  is  the  respect 
of  their  neighbours.  That  is  an  evil  in  itself, 
but  it  produces  another  evil,  which  is  that  the 
spirit  of  emulation  in  public  work  is  deadened. 
It  is  significant  that  in  some  States  free  citizens 
are  by  law  compelled,  if  required,  to  discharge 
certain  honorary  duties  in  local  administration- 
generally  in  connexion  with  the  poor  law-  -for 
three  years  at  a  time,  unless  incapacitated  or  dis- 
qualified. The  paralysing  effects  of  State  patron- 
age are  seen  in  other  directions.  The  prevailing 
idea  being  that  the  State  is  responsible  for  every- 
body's welfare,  and  that  what  the  State  does  not 
do  cannot  profitably  be  done  at  all,  it  is  not 
strange  that  citizens  should  rarely  come  for- 
ward with  large  liberality  in  support  of  public 


282  German  Life 

institutions  and  philanthropies  of  which  there 
may  be  pressing  need.  The  people  have  not 
been  trained  to  these  things,  and  it  might  almost 
seem  that  private  concern  for  the  general  welfare 
is  hardly  desired.  The  hospitals,  the  orphanages, 
the  almshouses,  the  universities,  the  schools,  the 
libraries,  even  the  churches  are,  as  a  rule,  built, 
and  also  maintained,  by  the  State  and  the  paro- 
chial authorities  and  not  by  private  munificence. 
There  are,  of  course,  other  disadvantages,  and 
one  is  the  undue  deference  which  the  public  is 
compelled  to  pay  to  bumbledom.  The  German 
has  a  marvellous  respect  for  what  is  "official," 
and  officialism  is  to  him  a  sort  of  second  provid- 
ence. I  remember  reading  in  a  January  issue 
of  a  leading  journal  the  grave  editorial  announce- 
ment :  "The  first  fortnight  of  the  new  year  lies 
behind  us.  Thus  one  twenty-sixth  part  of  the 
year  has  officially  passed  down  the  stream  of 
time."  It  was  the  editor's  unconscious  homage 
to  the  peaked  hat.  But  the  bureaucrat  has  a 
way  of  riding  the  high  horse  which  at  times 
exhausts  the  patience  even  of  the  patient  civilian. 
The  superior  classes  of  State  servants  form  a 
caste  as  exclusive  as  do  the  officers  of  the  army 
themselves,  but  it  is  the  small  officials,  the  in- 
flated Jacks-in-office,  who  are  always  and  every- 
where the  most  pretentious  ;  and  in  general  no 
love  is  lost  between  the  public  and  these,  its 
nominal  servants.  There  is  a  disposition  on  the 


Local  Government  283 

part  of  the  latter  to  forget  their  true  position,  and, 
because  directly  responsible  to  departmental 
superiors,  to  overlook  the  fact  that  their  supreme 
master  is  no  other  than  the  much-abused,  much- 
suffering,  common  man  who  pays  the  taxes 
and  bears  the  State  upon  his  shoulders. 

A  case  came  to  my  knowledge  where  an  Eng- 
lishman, newly  come  to  a  town  in  Prussia,  served 
an  energetic  protest  upon  the  taxing  authorities 
for  having  so  promptly  notified  him  of  his  in- 
come taxation  schedule,  which  was  too  high, 
and  called  for  payment  accordingly.  They  an- 
swered by  raising  him  to  a  higher  schedule.  He 
protested  again,  and  with  greater  emphasis. 
The  result  was  that  he  found  himself  another 
notch  up  on  the  fiscal  tally.  On  this,  like  a 
sensible  Englishman,  he  paid  his  tax — now  un- 
questionably very  excessive  -  -  without  further 
demur.  Since  then  the  English  system  of  self- 
declaration  has  been  introduced  in  Prussia  in 
connexion  with  this  tax,  and  the  innovation 
offered  officialdom  a  unique  opportunity  for  dis- 
tinguishing itself.  For  the  first  two  years  the 
surveyors  of  taxes,  acting  on  the  genial  assump- 
tion that  all,  or  nearly  all,  men  are  liars,  made  it 
a  rule  to  dispute  the  majority  of  the  declarations. 
Discontent  on  the  taxpayers'  part  led  to  further 
suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  taxing  authority, 
which  in  any  measuring  of  forces  naturally  had 
the  better  of  the  encounter.  Questions  such  as 


284  German  Life 

these  were  of  common  occurrence:  "How 
much  do  you  spend  on  holidays  ?"  "How 
much  goes  in  parties?'  "What  do  you  give 
away  in  presents?"  "How  much  do  you  give 
your  wife  for  pocket-money  ? '  The  English 
plan  of  the  three  years'  average  was  adopted, 
and  with  all  the  English  impartiality.  Thus  a 
bank  clerk  was  gravely  admonished  :  "  Did  you 
receive  any  special  gift  on  the  occasion  of  your 
jubilee  of  service  ?  if  so,  it  must  be  calculated 
on  the  basis  of  a  three  year's  average."  Another 
person  in  the  same  position  who  was  known  to 
take  his  luncheon  on  the  premises  was  asked  to 
declare,  as  a  separate  source  of  income,  the 
amount  allowed  by  his  employers  for  the  mid- 
day meal.  These  oddities  were  all  related  to  the 
Prussian  Lower  House  by  indignant  deputies. 
Yet  if  he  is  overbearing  and  wooden-headed  at 
times,  the  public  official  is  invariably  faithful  and 
conscientious.  His  fondness  for  detail  is  merely 
a  part  of  the  German  spirit  of  thoroughness,  and 
his  pedantry  but  another  phase  of  that  unpracti- 
calness  of  character  which  is  so  often  found 
amongst  a  nation  of  scholars.  For  devotion  to 
duty  and  efficiency,  no  civil  service  in  the  world 
stands  higher  than  that  of  Germany. 

The  worst  feature  of  State  officialism  in  pro- 
vincial administration  is  that  every  functionary, 
whether  of  Province,  District,  or  Circuit,  must 
be  a  Government  man,  who  is  expected  to  think 


Local  Government  285 

with  Government  mind,  hear  with  Government 
ears,  and  speak  with  Government  lips.  One  has 
only  to  imagine,  say,  the  Chairmen  of  English 
County  Councils  subject  to  the  same  influence 
and  restraint,  in  order  to  understand  how  dia- 
metrically different  has  been  the  development 
of  provincial  government  in  the  two  countries. 
So  firmly  laid  down  is  the  unwritten  law  requir- 
ing provincial  administrative  officials  to  devote 
themselves  undividedly  to  the  Government,  that 
quite  recently  a  number  of  Landrathe  were 
summarily  removed  from  office  and  put  on  half- 
pay  for  having  voted  against  a  Ministerial  meas- 
ure in  the  Prussian  Upper  House.  The  attempt 
was  made  by  the  party  to  which  the  displaced 
officials  belonged  to  prove  that  the  Government's 
retaliatory  act  was  an  infraction  of  the  constitu- 
tion, one  of  the  provisions  of  which  stipulates  that 
"The  members  of  both  Chambers  are  represent- 
atives of  the  whole  nation  ;  they  vote  according 
to  their  free  and  independent  convictions,  and 
report  subject  to  directions  and  instructions. 
They  can  never  be  called  to  account  for  the  votes 
they  give  in  the  Chamber  ;  for  the  opinions  they 
express  there  they  can  only  be  called  to  account 
inside  the  Chamber  itself  in  accordance  with  the 
standing  orders."  But  the  Landrath  cannot 
claim  to  be  an  independent  deputy.  He  is  in 
the  service  of  the  Government,  which  both  ap- 
points and  pays  him,  and  by  the  terms  of  his 


286  German  Life 

engagement,  as  tacitly  understood,  if  not  actually 
expressed,  he  must  have  no  public  interest 
which  can  clash  with  his  duty  to  his  employers. 
Injustice  in  the  treatment  of  these  rebellious  offi- 
cials could  hardly  be  alleged  with  reason.  No 
doubt  the  punishment  awarded  was  rigorous  ; 
but  rigour  is  part  of  the  system,  and  this  system 
the  Landrdthe  completely  understand,  and  do 
not  fail  to  make  use  of,  so  far  as  their  own  au- 
thority goes,  in  dealing  with  inferior  officials. 
In  general,  the  discipline  to  which  State  servants 
are  subjected  in  Germany  is  severe,  but  the  rea- 
son is  that  the  Government  system  itself  is  rigid 
and  inflexible. 

It  happens  occasionally  in  England  that  mem- 
bers of  a  Government  act  the  part  of  the  candid 
friend  towards  their  own  colleagues,  and  frankly 
criticise  measures  for  which  they  share  a  collec- 
tive responsibility.  But  whatever  reflections 
may  be  called  forth  by  such  mental  detachment 
in  the  inner  circles  of  Cabinet  intercourse,  whose 
secrets  were  once  supposed  to  be  inviolable  and 
sacred,  the  worst  visible  consequence  is  seen  in 
the  genial  banter  of  next  day's  Opposition  Press. 
In  Germany  Ministerial  incompatibilities  of  this 
kind  are  hardly  conceivable,  but  cases  have  oc- 
curred of  high  State  functionaries  departing  from 
the  rule  which  requires  the  absolute  sinking  of 
their  individuality  in  the  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  the  result  has  been  serious  to  the 


Local  Government  287 

offenders.  A  few  years  ago  a  retired  Prussiar? 
Minister  Plenipotentiary,  on  the  pension  list, 
who  was  also  a  leading  Conservative  member 
of  the  House  of  Lords,  had  the  hardihood  to 
contribute  to  one  of  the  organs  of  his  party  in 
the  Berlin  daily  Press  an  article  criticising  ad- 
versely the  commercial  treaties  which  Count 
von  Caprivi  contracted.  As  the  law  requires 
that  a  State  official  shall  obtain  the  assent  of  his 
superiors  before  rushing  into  print,  and  assent 
had  in  this  case  neither  been  asked  nor  obtained, 
his  offence  came  before  the  Disciplinary  Court 
which  deals  with  contumelious  officials,  and  he 
was  dismissed  the  diplomatic  service  and  de- 
prived of  his  pension. 

But  if  the  host  of  State  officials  claim  a  large 
share  in  the  work  of  civil  government,  there  is 
still  another  repository  of  administrative  power 
which  stands  entirely  aloof  from  the  public, 
though  controlling  public  action  in  many  ways. 
1  refer  to  the  police  authority,  which  exercises 
many  functions  of  government  which  with  us 
belong  of  right  to  representative  bodies,  as  well 
as  legal  functions  which  with  us  belong  to 
courts  of  law,  and  many  functions  of  both  kinds 
which  are  peculiar  to  Germany.  In  the  street, 
especially,  the  policeman  claims  an  almost  undi- 
vided sway.  The  municipal  authorities  are,  of 
course,  responsible  for  their  maintenance  in 
proper  condition,  and  for  the  observance  of  all 


288  German  Life 

sanitary  measures  which  are  deemed  to  be  essen- 
tial in  this  age  of  germ  theories  and  innumerable 
bacilli.  But  it  is  the  supreme  police  official 
rather  than  the  ratepayer  who  keeps  these  au- 
thorities in  order,  who  reminds  them  of  neg- 
lected responsibilities,  suggests  new  ones,  and, 
in  general,  plays  the  part  both  of  municipal 
providence  and  public  critic,  with  the  important 
proviso  that  he  is  able  to  make  his  advice  and 
censures  felt  as  well  as  heard.  Such  a  thing  as 
the  obstruction  of  a  thoroughfare  is  not  tolerated 
for  a  moment  in  a  German  town. 

The  German  is  nothing  if  not  logical  ;  and 
so  the  policeman,  being  convinced  that  public 
streets  are  intended  for  traffic,  holds  it  to  be 
contrary  to  common-sense  to  allow  them  to  be 
obstructed,  and  he  acts  accordingly.  The  pro- 
fessional mendicant  is  not  suffered  to  proclaim 
his  manifold  woes  into  the  sympathetic  ears  of 
passers-by,  nor  the  mutilated  Lazarus  to  expose 
his  wounds  to  public  gaze.  Begging  in  general 
is  drastically  repressed,  and  though  it  may  fur- 
tively be  tried  in  the  grocer's  or  baker's  shop,  it 
usually  takes  the  ingenious  form  of  a  proposal 
to  exchange  an  unlimited  amount  of  food  for  a 
solitary  halfpenny, — which  is,  of  course,  the  only 
one  the  wily  purchaser  has  possessed  for  the  last 
twenty-four  hours.  Street  peddling  is  only  per- 
mitted by  licence,  and  the  accompanying  con- 
ditions must  be  scrupulously  observed.  Street 


• 

Local  Government          289 

crying  must  be  engaged  in  warily,  or  the  catch* 
penny  may  find  himself  suddenly  marching  in 
the  direction  of  the  guard-house.  Does  it  snow  ? 
You  had  better  clear  your  door-front  betimes,  or 
the  perambulating  constable  will  have  some- 
thing to  say  to  you,  and  this  though  you  may 
live  in  the  very  Ultima  Thule  of  the  municipal 
area.  As  it  is  winter,  you  probably  wish  to 
skate,  and  you  go  to  the  river  for  the  purpose. 
"Forbidden  !'  is  the  legend  which  greets  you 
on  the  brink.  The  ice  is  still  a  centimetre  too 
thin,  and  until  to-morrow  the  Police  President 
will  not  allow  it  to  be  trodden  on,  for  your 
safety  and  the  mental  composure  of  your  rela- 
tives are  not  your  affair,  but  his.  The  atten- 
tions which  are  paid  by  the  police  to  incoming 
strangers  are  apt  to  strike  the  foreigner  as  super- 
fluous. No  sooner  does  a  sojourner  arrive  at  his 
hotel  or  private  lodging,  than  word  must  be  sent 
to  the  nearest  police  office,  and  in  the  event  of 
the  stay  exceeding  a  few  days,  a  ponderous 
document  must  be  filled  up,  giving  information 
of  various  kinds  concerning  the  nationality, 
home,  social  position,  and  business  of  the 
stranger,  which  the  police  supplement,  if  they 
are  so  disposed,  by  private  inquiries  of  their 
own.  But  though  regulations  of  this  kind  may 
seem  to  be  intrusive  and  impertinent,  there  is  no 
doubt  about  their  utility.  So  complete  is  the 
surveillance  exercised  over  the  inhabitants  of  a 


29°  German  Life 

German  town  that  the  name,  address,  and  call- 
ing of  every  adult  are  kept  posted  up  in  detail, 
with  the  result  that  it  is  possible,  at  a  few 
moments'  notice,  to  learn  the  exact  whereabouts 
of  any  resident. 

Work-people  of  every  kind  are  subjected  to 
still  severer  control.  They  are  required  to  keep 
what  are  called  Labour  Books,  in  which,  besides 
name,  age,  and  occupation,  the  places  and  dura- 
tion of  past  service,  with  brief  testimonials  from 
employers,  are  recorded.  These  books  serve 
to  introduce  them  to  new  employers,  and  also 
for  the  general  purpose  of  legitimation,  when 
needful.  The  service-books  or  cards  of  domestic 
servants  may  even  contain  full  descriptions  of 
their  more  conspicuous  personal  characteristics, — 
the  colour  and  quantity  of  their  hair,  their  com- 
plexion, the  condition  of  their  teeth,  and  so 
forth.  And  so  it  is  with  a  hundred  details  of 
civil  and  private  life.  The  policeman  literally 
besets  you  behind  and  before,  and  has  ever  his 
(more  or  less)  benevolent  hand  upon  you.  You, 
as  a  foreigner,  may  not  like  it,  but  that  does  not 
matter  ;  it  is  the  law,  custom,  tradition  of  the 
country  ;  and  those  who  have  grown  up  under 
it  no  longer  protest,  but  even  prefer  it  so,  for 
life  becomes  so  much  easier  when  the  State 
provides  special  officials  to  think  and  act  for 
you  in  half  the  emergencies  of  daily  experience. 
There  is  yet  in  force  in  a  district  of  North 


Local  Government  291 

Germany  a  police  regulation  which  prohibits  the 
smoking  of  pipes  or  cigars  in  the  streets  of 
villages,  and  not  long  ago  a  clergyman  was 
prosecuted  for  having  ignorantly  disobeyed  it. 
Doubtless  the  regulation  was  issued  at  a  remote 
date,  when  the  houses  were  built  of  wood  and 
straw,  and  the  streets  were  narrow  ;  but  though 
the  conditions  of  its  origin  no  longer  continue, 
the  decree  survives,  and,  surviving,  it  must  be 
employed,  for  let  it  once  be  admitted  that  laws 
are  not  meant  to  be  enforced,  and  what  will 
the  policeman  do  then,  poor  thing  ?  It  is  less 
surprising  that  the  regulation  of  public-houses 
and  drinking-places  should  be  very  generally 
left  to  police  orders,  and  it  must  be  confessed 
that  the  police  authority,  as  a  rule,  exercises  its 
powers  in  this  respect  with  great  discretion. 
There  is  no  magistrate  to  interpose  between  it 
and  the  licensees,  and  repeated  illegality  often 
leads  to  a  summariness  of  treatment  which 
would  delight  the  heart  of  the  English  Pro- 
hibitionist, for  the  rule  is  to  administer  severe 
warning  for  a  first  offence,  and  to  cancel  the 
licence  on  repetition.  It  likewise  fixes  the 
times  of  opening  and  closing, — the  closing  hour 
being,  indeed,  termed  the  "police  hour,"  -de- 
cides whether  the  waiters  shall  be  male  or 
female,  and  determines  hygienic  arrangements 
generally.  The  regulation  of  tramways,  public 
vehicles,  and  lodging-houses  is  also  a  police 


292  German  Life 

function.  Private  householders,  too,  are  liable 
to  police  admonitions  of  a  kind  which  in  Eng- 
land are  not  even  expected  from  the  public 
health  authority,  and  this  is  especially  the  case 
if  they  happen  to  interfere  with  the  convenience 
of  their  neighbours.  The  theatres  and  places  of 
entertainment  are  under  the  same  control,  and 
in  Berlin  even  the  censorship  of  plays  falls  to 
the  Police  President. 

In  the  domain  of  morals,  indeed,  the  police- 
man is  apt  to  magnify  his  power.  Not  long  ago 
a  Berlin  art  dealer,  holding  a  royal  warrant,  was 
visited  by  an  indignant  constable,  who  pointed 
reprovingly  to  prints  in  the  window  of  a  Botti- 
celli "Venus  "  and  Rubens's  "Andromeda,"  the 
originals  of  which  are  in  the  Berlin  Royal  Gallery, 
and,  denouncing  them  as  obscene,  required  their 
immediate  removal.  Police  outbreaks  of  prud- 
ery of  the  kind  are  of  periodical  occurrence  in 
the  metropolis.  It  was  after  one  of  them  that 
a  leading  journal  made  the  novel  proposal  that 
the  statues  on  the  Spree  Bridge  at  the  bottom 
of  the  Linden  (irreverently  called  the  Indecent 
Bridge)  should  be  attired  in  trousers  and  petti- 
coats. More  recently  a  curious  case  occurred  at 
Magdeburg,  where,  in  the  interest  of  religion, 
the  police  authorities  took  upon  themselves  to 
revise  the  modern  classical  drama.  In  a  play  by 
the  famous  Holstein  playwright,  Friedrich  Heb- 
bel,  the  words,  "Karl,  don't  drink  so  much  ; 


Local  Government  293 

the  father  says  that  the  devil  is  in  the  wine," 
are  put  into  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  characters, 
and  the  answer  comes,  "  But  the  priests  say 
that  God  is  in  the  wine.  We  shall  see  who  is 
right."  The  play  is  an  old  one,  but  the  repute 
of  Hebbel  and  his  writings  had  evidently  not 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  intelligent  police- 
man who  happened  to  be  on  theatre  duty  at  the 
time,  for  the  actor  who  spoke  Karl's  reply  was 
summoned  to  answer  a  charge  of  ''improperly 
using  the  name  of  the  Deity,  and  of  interpolat- 
ing words  of  his  own  which  the  author  could 
never  have  employed."  Not  until  textual  proof 
had  been  advanced  that  Hebbel  really  wrote  the 
drama  as  it  was  played,  was  the  Court  satisfied 
that  an  act  of  profanity  could  not  safely  be 
imputed.  As  Hebbel  had  so  written,  it  was  all 
right  ;  had  the  words  been  added  by  a  later 
hand,  it  would  have  been  an  indictable  act  of 
blasphemy. 

But  it  is  in  the  control  of  political  and  public 
meetings  that  the  police  power  asserts  itself 
most  arbitrarily.  The  German  laws  on  the  sub- 
ject of  public  assembly  and  industrial  combina- 
tion have  placed  a  large  measure  of  authority  in 
the  hands  of  the  police,  as  the  politician  and  the 
working-man  both  know  to  their  cost.  Save  in 
election  times,  when  complete  liberty  of  agita- 
tion, according  to  the  constitution,  ought  to  be 
enjoyed,  there  is  no  pretence  of  genuine  liberty 


294  German  Life 

of  speech.  When  it  is  desired  to  hold  a  public 
meeting,  the  sanction  of  the  police  must  first  be 
obtained;  and  in  order  to  this,  the  character  and 
purpose  of  the  meeting  must  be  distinctly  de- 
fined. Should  the  proceedings  appear  to  the 
police  official  in  attendance  to  depart  from  the 
Jines  laid  down,  he  may  at  discretion  bring 
the  meeting  to  a  close  at  once.  At  a  political 
meeting  held  not  long  ago  in  a  Saxon  town  — 
and  Saxony  is  not  as  police-ridden  as  Prussia  — 
to  consider  a  Military  Bill  then  before  the  country, 
the  speaker  (he  was  a  Social-Democratic  Deputy) 
happened  in  the  course  of  his  harangue  to  ap- 
peal to  the  working-men  present  to  organise 
themselves  in  trade-unions,  in  the  interest  of 
industrial  solidarity.  As  this  subject  had  no- 
thing to  do  with  the  Army  Bill,  the  police  official 
present  promptly  declared  the  meeting  to  be 
dissolved,  as  "the  speaker's  remarks  were  not 
pertinent  to  the  order  of  the  day."  It  has  even 
happened  that  a  political  meeting  has  been  dis- 
solved owing  to  the  too  boisterous  laughter  in 
which  it  dared  to  indulge.  In  general,  political 
agitation  is  discouraged,  and,  where  possible, 
repressed  by  the  police  ;  and  the  fining  and  im- 
prisonment of  daring  members  of  the  popular 
parties,  for  such  offences  as  "  soliciting  sub- 
scriptions without  police  permission,"  "  making 
a  speech  at  a  grave-side  without  having  an- 
nounced the  intention  so  to  do,"  "distributing 


Local  Government  295 

hand-bills,"  and  the  like,  are  of  the  commonest 
occurrence  both  in  town  and  country.  But  it  is 
not  merely  political  meetings  that  are  thus  under 
police  ban.  In  a  provincial  town  the  election 
of  a  new  Mayor  was  pending.  Two  members 
of  the  Town  Council  invited  some  of  their  col- 
leagues to  a  private  conference  on  the  subject, 
and  a  restaurant  was  named  as  a  convenient 
place  of  assembly.  The  conference  did  not 
take  place,  however,  though  several  of  the 
Councillors  chatted  over  the  coming  event  in  the 
general  guest-chamber.  But  the  police  had 
heard  of  the  intention  to  hold  this  dangerous 
gathering,  for  which  permission  had  not  been 
sought,  and  a  constable  was  despatched  to 
watch.  Seeing  several  known  Town  Council- 
lors seated  round  a  table,  he  walked  up  to  them, 
and  formally  declaring  their  "meeting'  dis- 
solved, he  bade  them  go  home.  That  was  not 
all,  for  the  two  Councillors  who  summoned  a 
conference  which  did  not  take  place  were  prose- 
cuted and  fined, — it  would  puzzle  the  shrewdest 
judge  to  say  why.  In  another  provincial  town 
a  local  politician  gave  notice  to  the  police  of  his 
wish  to  hold  and  address  a  meeting  to  consider 
public  questions.  Permission  was  refused  by 
the  Police  Superintendent  on  the  grounds  that 
(i)  "  Your  person  is  entirely  unknown  ;  (2)  the 
order  of  the  day  is  quite  indefinite  ;  and  (3)  the 
meeting  would  not  be  over  by  nine  o'clock." 


296  German  Life 

Jn  reality  each  of  these  reasons,  given  the  legiti- 
macy of  the  meeting  in  itself,  was  fictitious,- 
an  arbitrary  abuse  of  the  law  by  the  police  au- 
thority, against  which  there  was  no  appeal. 
And  how  far  the  law  may  be  abused  with  im- 
punity was  illustrated  not  long  ago  by  a  singular 
incident  which  occurred  at  Kiel.  During  an 
election  there  two  Socialists  were  arrested  by  a 
gendarme  for  circulating  electioneering  literature, 

-  a  proceeding  perfectly  legal  at  such  a  time,- 
and  when  complaint  was  made  to  his  superior 
and  recompense  demanded,  according  to  the 
law  of  the  land,  for  wrongful  imprisonment,  the 
reply  was  given  that  the  gendarme's  act  was 
quite  proper,  since  he  had  not  heard  that  the 
election  had  begun.  Such  a  decision  recalls 
Kant's  well-known  dictum,  ''When  justice 
ceases  to  be  done  men  live  no  longer  to  any 
purpose." 

So,  too,  work-people  cannot  meet  for  the 
purely  personal  object  of  considering  their  wages 
and  conditions  of  employment  without  the  prior 
permission  of  the  police,  which  will  not  neces- 
sarily be  given,  and  should  a  meeting  of  Poles  be 
held  to  discuss  matters  of  interest  to  them,  the 
constable  present  has  a  right  to  require  the  use 
of  German,  so  that  he  may  follow  what  is  said, 
though  not  one  in  fifty  of  those  present  may 
know  any  but  their  native  language.  The  law 
of  assembly,  and  still  more  the  mode  in  which 


Local  Government  297 

it  is  enforced,  might,  indeed,  have  the  deliberate 
purpose  of  discouraging  public  meetings  of  all 
kinds,  and  so  of  preventing  the  growth  of  healthy 
public  opinion.  What  misguided  endeavours 
of  this  kind  lead  to  has  been  shown  by  the  ab- 
ject failure  of  the  old  coercive  measures  against 
Social  Democracy,  which  never  spread  so  rapidly 
as  when  most  repressed  and  forced  into  secret 
and  subterranean  methods  of  agitation. 

An  important  factor  in  the  police  service  of  Ber- 
lin and  other  large  towns  is  the  secret  detective. 
Over  Berlin  especially  the  secret  police  system 
spreads  like  a  net,  and  though  natural  exaggera- 
tion probably  prevails  as  to  the  omnipresence 
of  its  mysterious  agents,  there  is  no  doubt  about 
the  effectual  oversight  which  they  are  able  at 
command  to  exercise  upon  the  public  life  and 
movements  of  the  population.  Every  day  a 
host  of  these  emissaries  of  the  law  assemble  at 
the  police  headquarters  to  receive  orders.  Very 
burgher-like  persons  indeed  they  are  as  a  rule, 
attired  faultlessly,  according  to  the  latest  ideas 
of  the  man-milliner  ;  some  might  even  pass 
unsuspected  in  the  politest  circles  of  society. 
They  are  employed  for  all  sorts  of  purposes, 
though  naturally  the  detection  of  the  more  se- 
cret forms  of  crime  is  their  principal  mission. 
Wherever  great  concourses  of  people  assemble 
out-of-doors,  and  the  vigilance  of  the  uniformed 
constables  is  likely  to  be  overtaxed,  a  contingent 


298  German  Life 

of  secret  criminal  officers  is  sent  to  mix  in  the 
crowds,  there  to  observe,  hear,  and  act  where 
necessary.  The  regular  policeman  passes  and 
repasses  these  well-drilled  spies,  yet,  though  he 
knows  them  as  his  own  kindred,  no  word  or  look 
of  recognition  is  exchanged.  In  these  days  of 
"political  attempts,"  when  every  Crown  is  more 
or  less  beset  by  unseen  danger  from  the  enemies 
of  legality  and  order,  the  visit  of  a  royal  person- 
age to  Berlin  brings  into  activity  all  the  skill  and 
cunning  of  which  the  criminal  police  depart- 
ment is  capable.  No  one  knows  it  save  as  a 
theoretical  certainty,  yet  in  every  crowd  that 
lines  a  royal  progress,  or  gazes  into  the  privacy 
of  a  royal  palace,  move  to  and  fro  these  secret, 
argus-eyed  guardians  of  order.  That,  however, 
is  high  life,  indeed,  compared  with  some  of  the 
secret  detective's  functions.  He  may  another 
day  be  commissioned  to  unravel  some  mystery 
in  which  the  baser  elements  are  concerned. 
Then,  suitably  attiring  himself,  he  will  seek  the 
haunts  of  crime,  and  therein  will  consort  as 
though  himself  belonging  to  the  powers  of 
darkness,  passing  from  low  drinking-house  to 
lower  gambling  den,  entering  into  the  dissipa- 
tions of  their  habitues,  saying  no  more  than  he 
need,  and  making  himself  as  inconspicuous  as 
he  may,  yet  for  ever  watching,  listening,  ferret- 
ing, and  gathering  the  toils  of  justice  round 
unsuspecting  plotters  against  society.  But  the 


Local  Government  299 

sans-culotte  and  leveller  of  to-day  may  to-mor- 
row be  an  up-to-date  dandy,  dining  in  the  best 
restaurant  of  the  city,  surreptitiously  seeking 
traces  of  some  fast-living  sharper  who  is  known 
to  be  pursuing  mischievous  ends.  So  it  is 
that  the  secret  policeman  in  his  time  plays  many 
parts.  It  is  an  exciting  life,  offering  keen  at- 
tractions to  those  who  follow  it  for  its  romantic 
possibilities,  though  not  without  a  dangerous 
side. 

While,  however,  the  ends  of  justice  are  doubt- 
less served  by  this  system,  there  are  counterbal- 
ancing disadvantages,  of  which  the  principal  is 
that  it  is  carried  to  lengths  which  would  certainly 
not  be  tolerated  in  a  free  country.  I  remember 
being  one  day  seated  in  a  Berlin  drawing-room 
overlooking  the  street,  when  my  host  suddenly 
interrupted  the  lively  political  conversation,  and 
hastening  to  the  window,  closed  it  with  a 
nervous  gesture.  Asked  to  explain,  he  an- 
swered simply:  "The  police  are  everywhere 
and  hear  everything."  His  apprehension  was, 
of  course,  foolish  and  groundless,  but  it  was 
significant  as  an  evidence  of  the  all-prevalent 
idea  that  the  police  exist  to  get  people  into 
trouble,  and,  hence,  are  always  on  the  look-out 
for  victims.  Even  an  illusion  has  its  cause  and 
explanation,  and  the  reason  for  this  exaggerated 
fear  of  police  intrusion  must  be  sought  in  the 
unfortunate  position  which  the  police  system, 


300  German  Life 

and  the  policeman  as  its  representative,  occupy 
in  the  civic  life  of  Germany.  Police  and  public 
have  only  one  thing  in  common, --mutual  dis- 
like ;  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  on  which 
side'  the  antipathy  is  the  stronger.  As  the 
policeman  is  under  no  sort  of  public  control, 
-for  the  municipalities  are  not  permitted  to 
concern  themselves  with  the  protection  of  pub- 
lic peace  and  order,-  -  he  is  apt  to  be  arbitrary 
and  masterful  in  behaviour,  and  to  rule  the 
street  as  a  sergeant  rules  the  drill-ground.  The 
public  may  be,  as  a  famous  man  has  said,  an 
ass  ;  but  even  asses,  so  far  as  is  known,  do  not 
like  to  be  eternally  cuffed  and  kicked.  Hence 
the  cavalier  treatment  which  the  public  too 
often  receives  from  the  many-buttoned  officer  of 
justice  engenders  on  its  part  a  natural  resent- 
ment and  mistrust,  and  two  eminently  useful 
persons,  who  have  every  reason  in  the  world 
for  reciprocal  respect,  the  law-keeper  and  the 
law-defender,  never  succeed  in  winning  each 
other's  confidence. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  NEWSPAPER  AND  ITS  READERS 

THE  newspaper  Press,  in  general,  takes  its 
character  from  the  public  to  which  it  ap- 
peals and  the  public  life  whose  movements  it  is 
intended  to  reflect  ;  and,  taking  newspapers 
and  newspaper  readers  in  the  mass,  every  coun- 
try probably  has  just  the  Press  which  it  deserves. 
In  Germany  we  are  confronted  with  several 
important  facts  which,  as  they  were  bound 
to  do,  have  powerfully  acted  upon  the  pop- 
ular literature  of  the  day  and  week.  It  has 
been  shown  that  political  life  is  narrow, 
that  public  opinion  carries  comparatively  little 
weight  in  the  ruling  circles,  and  that  personal 
liberty  is  severely  restricted.  The  results  upon 
the  newspapers  could  hardly  have  been  other 
than  they  are  :  a  restricted  influence,  lack  of 
status,  and  harassing  difficulties  at  the  hands 
of  both  the  law  and  the  police.  That  the  Press 
has  very  little  influence  on  the  Government 
will  readily  be  understood,  but  it  fails  also  to 
form  and  direct  public  opinion  to  any  large 

301 


302  German  Life 

degree.  There  is  not  one  journal  in  Germany 
which,  in  either  circulation  or  influence,  can  be 
named  in  the  same  breath  with  the  least  of  ten 
or  a  dozen  of  London's  principal  daily  news- 
papers ;  and  outside  the  capital  the  best  of 
Berlin's  journals  only  circulate  in  isolated  num- 
bers, and  in  the  south  hardly  at  all.  It  is  the 
misfortune  of  the  German  Press  that  the  special 
laws  for  the  regulation  of  newspapers  and  serial 
publications  date  from  times  of  great  political 
unrest  and  agitation.  Hence  it  is  perhaps  inevit- 
able that  restrictive  and  regulative  measures 
no  longer  in  harmony  with  the  ideas  and 
necessities  of  the  present  age  should  have 
been  preserved.  Liberty  of  the  Press  has  been 
one  of  the  leading  political  watchwords  of  the 
reform  party  during  the  last  three-quarters  of 
a  century,  yet  the  battles  won  in  this  domain 
of  national  freedom  have  hitherto  been  of  the 
slightest  importance.  The  Press  does  not,  it 
is  true,  stand  where  it  stood  at  the  beginning 
of  the  century,  when  even  visiting-cards  could 
not  be  printed  without  the  solemn  assent  of 
the  public  censor,  and  when  political  prints 
which  annoyed  the  Government  were  summar- 
ily suppressed  at  the  mere  beck  of  a  Minister 
or  his  subordinate.  Yet  little  ground  has  been 
won  since  the  harsher  features  of  the  measures 
passed  fifty  years  ago  for  the  repression  of  demo- 
cratic excesses  were  abandoned. 


The  Newspaper  and  its  Readers   303 

The  legislation  passed  soon  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Empire  (that  of  1874)  did, 
indeed,  concede,  in  principle  at  least,  the  "free- 
dom of  the  Press,"  and  it  abandoned  a  formal 
censorship  ;  but  an  aggravating  form  of  control 
is  still  exercised  by  the  police,  whose  authority 
over  the  Press  is  greater  in  reality  than  it  seems 
to  be  from  the  letter  of  the  statute.  It  is  no 
longer  necessary,  as  it  once  was,  to  obtain 
sanction  for  the  issue  of  each  number  before 
it  is  sent  into  the  world,  but  it  is  still  the 
legal  duty  of  a  publisher  to  lay  a  copy  of  his 
journal,  directly  it  reaches  the  press,  before  the 
police  authority,  which  acknowledges  its  receipt 
by  a  formal  sealed  certificate,  bearing  the  num- 
ber of  the  issue  and  the  day  and  even  the  hour 
of  delivery.  This  copy  an  informal  censor 
revises  ;  and  in  the  event  of  any  article  being 
objectionable  he  may  order  the  immediate  con- 
fiscation of  the  whole  issue,  or  a  court  of  law, 
which  in  such  matters  works  with  wondrous 
speed,  may  do  so  for  him.  As  the  police  and 
judicial  authorities  have  wide  discretion  in  the 
determination  of  editorial  culpability,  this  power 
of  confiscation  is  felt  to  be  a  harsh  one.  This  in- 
cident occurred  a  year  or  two  ago  in  Berlin.  The 
leading  Liberal  newspaper,  the  1/ossische  Zei- 
tung,  a  journal  of  eminent  respectability,  had 
published  an  article,  moderate  in  spirit  and  terms, 
on  ''Governmental  bureaucracy."  The  Prussian 


304  German  Life 

Minister  of  Justice  sent  two  police  commissaries 
to  the  newspaper  office  to  inquire  the  authorship. 
The  editor  declined  to  divulge  his  contributor's 
name,  on  which  the  commissaries  called  in  a 
number  of  police  constables  and  ordered  them 
to  ransack  the  editorial  rooms,  and  even  the 
printing  office,  in  search  for  the  manuscript, 
which,  of  course,  was  not  found.  Here  is  an 
illustration  of  the  same  thing  elsewhere  :  "Yes- 
terday afternoon  three  police  officers  made  a 
fruitless  search  in  the  offices  of  the  Frankfurter 
Zeitung,  at  the  instance  of  the  Hamburg  Court, 
for  the  manuscript  of  an  article  concerning  the 
North  German  Bank."  Only  last  year  the  re- 
sponsible editor  of  a  Socialist  journal  in  the 
provinces  was  prosecuted  for  having  republished 
from  a  foreign  newspaper  an  article  held  to 
reflect  improperly  on  the  Emperor.  The  editor 
advanced  proof  that  the  article  appeared  without 
his  knowledge,  and  while  he  was  absent  from 
duty.  Moreover,  the  acting  editor  voluntarily 
came  forward  and  confessed  that  he  had  pub- 
lished the  article  on  his  own  responsibility. 
The  latter  was  sentenced  to  three  years'  impris- 
onment for  his  pains,  but  his  chief  was  given 
four  years'  imprisonment  as  well. 

While  the  Socialist  Law  existed,  the  powers 
of  the  police  were  far  more  extensive  than  now, 
and  the  rigour  with  which  they  were  used  was 
shown  in  the  wholesale  extermination  of  news- 


The  Newspaper  and  its  Readers   305 

papers  of  Socialistic  tendencies  which  took  place 
between  the  years  1878  and  1890.  Since  that 
law  disappeared  Socialist  journals  have  sprung 
up  again  in  abundance,  though  the  experience 
gained  by  their  conductors  during  the  era  of 
repression  does  not  enable  them  to  steer  clear  of 
friction  with  the  authorities.  Fear  of  the  law  is, 
in  fact,  the  one  great  plague  of  the  German  edi- 
tor's life.  For  it  is  the  editor,  and  not  the  pub- 
lisher, who  first  comes  in  for  punishment  when 
the  newspapers  transgress  the  Press  laws, 
though  theoretically  not  only  publisher,  editor, 
and  news-agent,  but  also  the  compositors  and 
machinists  of  a  printing  office  are  equally  indict- 
able when  the  newspaper  has  done  wrong.  So 
frequent  are  prosecutions  of  editors  that  many 
newspapers  are  compelled  to  maintain  on  their 
staffs  what  are  known  as  "sitting-editors," 
whose  special  function  it  is  to  serve  in  prison 
(colloquially  sit^en  or  "sit")  the  terms  of  de- 
tention that  may  be  awarded  for  a  too  liberal 
exercise  of  the  critical  faculty. 

One  of  the  oddest  judgments  passed  under  the 
Press  Law — one,  by  the  way,  for  which  there 
was  no  possible  legal  justification- -emanated 
quite  recently  from  a  Magdeburg  court.  An 
editor  was  convicted,  of  a  certain  offence,  and 
the  appeal  made  for  leniency,  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  his  first  prosecution,  was  rejected, 
because  "the  newspaper  which  he  conducted 


306  German  Life 

had  frequently  been  punished  before."  Of 
course,  in  strict  law,  newspapers  as  such  are  not 
punishable,  and  are  not  recognised  as  ''criminal 
personalities"  ;  but  the  judgment  virtually  set 
up  this  strange  theory,  and  had  the  effect  of 
making  an  editor  responsible  for  the  shortcom- 
ings of  all  his  predecessors  in  office,  and  of  ap- 
plying to  journalism  the  doctrine  of  hereditary 
sin.  The  police,  too,  regulate  the  public  sale  of 
newspapers,  and  decide  whether  they  shall  be 
cried  in  the  streets  or  not,  and  in  Berlin  special 
editions  cannot  be  published  without  the  prior 
sanction  of  this  authority.  In  the  matter  of  false 
news  the  German  courts  of  law  have  a  short 
way  with  the  catch-penny  newspaper  which  is 
at  least  deserving  of  consideration  in  other  coun- 
tries. Should  a  newspaper  publish  news  of  the 
kind,  its  publisher,  editor,  and  everybody  con- 
nected with  its  publication  and  distribution  may 
be  brought  to  book.  Not  long  ago  a  special 
edition  was  placed  on  the  streets  of  Berlin  dur- 
ing the  evening  hours  on  the  strength  of  a 
rumoured  attempt  on  a  European  sovereign. 
The  story  proved  to  be  fictitious  from  beginning 
to  end,  and,  a  prosecution  being  instituted,  the 
proprietor  was  sentenced  to  nine  months'  im- 
prisonment for  fraud,  and  was  fined  £2  45.  for 
the  unlawful  sale  of  the  paper  ;  the  printer  of 
the  sheet  was  fined  £15  for  aiding  and  abetting 
in  the  fraud,  and  £\  for  transgressing  the  Press 


The  Newspaper  and  its  Readers   307 

law  ;  and  three  news-agents  were  fined  as  ac- 
complices in  this  imposition  on  the  public. 

A  peculiar  journalistic  institution  in  Germany 
is  the  semi-official  (offlcios)  Press,- -that  part  of 
the  Press  which  represents  the  views  of  the 
Government.  Yet,  in  truth,  this  is  an  institu- 
tion which  was  not  made  in  Germany  at  all,  but 
in  England,  for  Walpole  both  employed  useful 
writers  in  the  Press  and  paid  them  handsomely. 
It  is  the  Prussian  and  Imperial  Governments 
which  have  particularly  fostered  this  questionable 
form  of  journalism.  The  semi-official  Press  ex- 
isted before  Prince  Bismarck  came  to  the  front, 
yet  that  statesman  gave  to  it  an  importance 
which  it  never  before  possessed,  and  which  it 
has  not  enjoyed  since  he  disappeared  from  pub- 
lic life.  It  was  originally  a  measure  of  fear,  re- 
sorted to  when  the  "freedom  of  the  Press" 
(precious  phrase ! )  was  enacted  in  Prussia. 
Hitherto  the  newspapers  had  been  repressed  and 
restricted  in  every  possible  way,  and  to  criticise 
the  Government  and  its  policy  frankly  was  an 
offence  only  to  be  expiated  by  confiscation  of 
property  and  sacrifice  of  personal  liberty,- -per- 
haps by  temporary  exile.  When  the  Press  ac- 
quired a  certain  measure  of  independence,  and 
learned  to  use  it,  the  apprehension  overcame 
the  Government  that  resentment  and  retaliation 
would  follow,  and  that  the  emancipated  jour- 
nals would  avenge  the  wrongs  of  the  past  by 


308  German  Life 

unmeasured  hostility  to  their  former  persecutors. 
Hence  the  plan  was  devised  of  setting  one  news- 
paper to  watch  and  counteract  another,  to  follow 
and  answer  its  criticisms,  and  to  uphold  the 
Government,  its  sayings  and  doings,  under  all 
circumstances.  In  Prince  Bismarck's  time  mone- 
tary help  was  not  withheld  by  the  Government 
from  newspapers  which  lent  their  columns  to 
the  exposition  and  endorsement  of  Ministerial 
policy  -  -  good  or  bad  -  -  but,  as  a  rule,  the 
"honour"  of  such  a  high  association  and  the 
frequent  reception  of  inspired  articles  and  news 
announcements  were  regarded  as  acknowledg- 
ment enough.  Prince  Bismarck  went  so  far 
as  to  endeavour  to  attach  important  English 
newspapers  to  the  wires  of  his  Cabinet,  though 
without  success. 

As  it  still  exists,  the  semi-official  journal  is  a 
vehicle  for  informal  Ministerial  pronouncements 
upon  current  political  questions,  and,  though 
the  public  has  a  fairly  accurate  idea  as  to  what  is 
semi-official  in  such  journals  and  what  is  simply 
editorial  and  carries  no  further  weight,  the  tie 
between  the  Government  and  its  organs  is  a 
loose  one,  and  when  desirable  it  is  generally 
possible  to  disclaim  responsibility  for  utterances 
which  may  prove  to  be  inconvenient  or  prema- 
ture. From  the  English  standpoint  it  is  difficult 
to  see  wherein  the  real  advantage  of  semi-official 
journalism  consists,  save  to  the  newspapers 


The  Newspaper  and  its  Readers  309 

privileged,  while  the  disadvantages  are  obvious. 
The  late  Count  von  Caprivi  was  so  disappointed 
with  the  failure  of  his  "  body-organs  '  to  do 
their  duty  well,  and  to  rise  to  the  occasion  when 
a  great  emergency  occurred,  that  he  first  thought 
of  establishing  a  new  semi-official  journal  on 
improved  lines,  which  should  be  more  effectively 
under  Ministerial  control  than  any  hitherto,  and 
then  seriously  considered  the  repudiation  of 
semi-official  journalism  altogether,  but  he  re- 
signed before  either  course  was  adopted. 
Perhaps  no  stronger  condemnation  of  the  in- 
stitution has  been  spoken  than  that  which  came 
from  a  prominent  Conservative  publicist  : 

"  Its  success  has  been  very  small,  but  its  cor- 
rupting influence  on  the  other  hand  very  great. 
The  publishers  of  these  dependent  organs  under- 
take to  defend  the  doings  of  the  Government 
under  all  circumstances.  It  is  their  duty  to 
demonstrate  the  Government's  infallibility. 
Such  a  position  is,  for  any  man  of  character,  so 
distressing  that  only  seldom  are  able  writers — 
hardly  ever  honourable  ones — willing  to  accept 
it  and  the  humiliations  which  it  entails  ;  thus  it 
comes  about  that  the  semi-official  Press  is  gen- 
erally in  bad  hands.  Yet  these  dependent  news- 
papers are  really  of  no  value,  because  their 
character  is  speedily  known,  even  though  the 
Government  should  deny  it.  Certainly  in  a  free 
country  the  Government  should  not  ignore  the 


310  German  Life 

Press  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  more  it  looks  for 
support  to  active  political  parties  the  more  must 
it  desire  to  be  ably  represented  in  literature,  and 
where  there  is  a  strong  Ministry  there  will  be 
Ministerial  newspapers  corresponding  in  char- 
acter. Nor  is  there  any  reason  why  a  Minis- 
terial party  should  not  continue  to  support  an 
organ.  But  there  should  be  no  Press  that  is 
supported  by  public  money,  or  by  Governmental 
bodies  as  such,  nor  yet  a  Press  Bureau,  which 
gives  the  parole  to  the  Ministerial  organs,  and 
lays  its  cuckoo-eggs  in  as  many  strange  nests 
as  possible." 

But  the  few  recognised  semi-official  organs 
do  not  nearly  represent  the  journalistic  influence 
which  is  at  the  command  of  the  Government. 
In  the  provinces  a  host  of  small  news-sheets  are 
ever  ready  to  do  its  bidding,  and  to  defend  its 
policy  through  thick  and  thin.  These  are  the 
so-called  Kreisbldtter  and  Aintsbldtter, — "  Dis- 
trict newspapers," — which  have  the  privilege  of 
publishing  the  paid  official  announcements.  The 
revenue  derived  therefrom  never  makes  mil- 
lionaires, but  it  is  a  welcome  addition  to  the 
income  of  a  small  newspaper,  whose  proprietor 
is  expected  to  pay  the  Government  back  in  flat- 
tery and  good  words. 

In  contents  and  conduct  the  average  German 
newspaper  of  the  better  sort  has  the  appearance 
of  immaturity,  and  suggests  a  reading  public  of 


The  Newspaper  and  its  Readers   311 

which  the  editor  and  his  colleagues  do  not  stand 
in  any  great  awe.  The  literary  standard  is  de- 
cidedly a  high  one,  and  to  many  daily  journals 
writers  of  national  celebrity  regularly  contribute  ; 
but  while  learning  is  present,  prodigious  and 
impressive,  dulness  is  apt  to  go  hand  in  hand, 
and  of  genuine  enterprise  there  is  little  trace. 
The  signed  article  is  common,  and  alongside  of 
it  a  system  of  semi-anonymity  is  followed. 
Here  the  contributions  are  marked  by  figures, 
letters,  or  other  signs,  not  indeed  understood  by 
readers  generally,  yet  enabling  wide  circles  to 
identify  the  writers.  Such  journals  as  these  are 
strongly  political,  and  their  survey  is  as  wide  as 
the  globe  itself,  for  the  German  editor  is  in  gen- 
eral very  well  informed  and  versatile,  and  his 
cosmopolitan  interests  do  him  the  utmost  credit. 
His  passion  for  abstract  reasoning  may  depre- 
ciate the  practical  value  of  his  reflections,  but  he 
is  painstaking  in  the  acquisition  of  facts,  thor- 
ough-going in  his  treatment  of  them,  and  he 
never  has  doubts.  Art,  letters,  and  the  drama  are 
certainly  taken  more  seriously  by  the  German 
than  the  English  Press  of  the  first,  and,  indeed, 
of  every  rank.  Here,  whatever  be  its  other 
shortcomings,  the  German  newspaper  excels. 
Not  only  is  space  found  for  able  contributions  on 
these  subjects  in  the  daily  issues,  but  it  is  a  com- 
mon custom  to  publish  a  free  literary  supplement 
with  the  Sunday  number,  and  this  may  always 


312  German  Life 

be  taken  up  with  the  certainty  of  finding  readable 
essays  of  a  belletristic  character.  The  feuilleton 
is  not  universal,  though  some  of  the  best-known 
German  journals  would  as  soon  think  of  omit- 
ting the  story  which  appears  daily  "under  the 
rule '  at  the  foot  of  the  first  page  as  of  with- 
holding from  the  Government  a  daily  mead  of 
praise  or  blame,  as  the  case  may  be.  How  little 
the  very  best  of  the  German  newspapers  can 
claim  to  be  genuinely  national  in  influence  and 
circulation  may  be  judged  by  the  remarkable 
prominence  which  is  given  to  what  is  known  in 
England  as  ''local  news."  The  most  trivial  in- 
cidents of  the  street  and  of  private  life,  such  as 
are  barely  recorded  by  the  English  country  news- 
paper, fill  daily  not  a  few  columns  of  metro- 
politan journals  which  are  constantly  regarded 
in  England  as  representative  of  national  opinion. 
The  truth  is,  that  with  all  its  imperial  status  and 
its  importance  in  international  politics,  the  intel- 
lectual air  of  Berlin  is  distinctly  provincial. 

Of  the  German  provincial  Press  little  need  be 
said,  save  that  it  is  very  provincial  indeed.  It 
is  noteworthy,  however,  that  the  large  weekly 
journal  has  not  the  vogue  which  it  has  in  Eng- 
land. A  daily  issue  of  the  smallest  and  most 
insignificant  kind  is  preferred  to  a  weekly  issue 
of  infinitely  higher  merit  ;  and  the  German  plan 
of  subscribing  for  newspapers  by  the  quarter, 
half-year,  and  year  makes  the  publication  of 


The  Newspaper  and  its  Readers  3J3 

daily  sheets  easier,  for  though  the  impression 
may  be  a  small  one,  it  is  always  certain.  There 
is  before  me  a  typical  daily  newspaper  issued  in 
an  unknown  provincial  town.  It  has  four  pages 
of  execrably  printed  text,  altogether  making 
about  a  quarter  of  an  ordinary  eight-page  Eng- 
lish journal,  though  the  cost  is  proportionate, — • 
barely  more  than  a  penny  farthing  per  week. 
The  front  page  is  devoted  to  local  news,  the  back 
page  to  advertisements,  another  half  page  is 
taken  up  by  the  femlleton,  and  of  the  rest  a  full 
page  goes  to  foreign  news, --Swiss  finance, 
Italian  labour  troubles,  American  tornadoes  and 
bankruptcies, — to  which  are  added  an  inspiring 
report  on  the  latest  sea  serpent  and  a  few  hu- 
morous paragraphs  to  fill  up.  It  is  no  very 
sensational  fare,  but  it  is  a  daily  newspaper,  and 
that  is  all  that  is  needed. 

What  is  euphemistically  known  in  England 
as  the  "religious'  Press  is  absolutely  without 
counterpart  in  Germany.  There  are  small  cleri- 
cal news-sheets  of  a  very  innocent  order,  in- 
tended mainly  for  the  parsonage  study  ;  and  the 
Church  Guilds  of  working-men  (both  Protestant 
and  Roman  Catholic)  have  their  sectional  organs, 
but  popular  newspapers  dealing  with  ecclesiasti- 
cal and  religious  interests  on  broad  lines  do  not 
exist,  and  it  is  not  certain  that  if  they  did  there 
would  be  a  great  demand  for  them.  "The  re- 
ligious newspapers  ;  what  are  they  for  ?  "  asked 


3  H  German  Life 

of  me  a  well-informed  German,  to  whom  this 
peculiarly  Anglo-Saxon  institution  had  been 
named  :  "I  suppose  for  sick  people,  or  those 
who  live  where  there  are  no  churches  ?"  Holy 
simplicity  !  He  did  not  know  that  the  English 
religious  Press  exists  for  the  purpose  of  political 
propagandism,  and  of  proving  to  the  secular 
journals  that  they  have  no  monopoly  of  party 
rancour.  Yet  religion  is  not  excluded  from  the 
German  secular  Press  to  the  extent  that  it  is 
from  the  English.  Each  has  its  ecclesiastical 
reports,  but,  in  addition,  the  German  editor  is 
not  above  preaching  a  little  on  his  own  account 
occasionally  in  the  columns  which  are  reserved 
for  the  expression  of  his  views.  Especially  is 
this  the  case  when  the  great  festivals  of  the 
Church  come  round.  Then  the  rationalistic 
editor  of  the  most  Radical  of  journals  will,  in 
the  sincerest  and  most  matter-of-fact  way,  ex- 
hibit a  knowledge  of  things  religious  which  is 
as  peculiar  as  it  is  extensive. 

The  only  suggestion  worthy  of  imitation  which 
the  advertising  columns  of  the  German  Press 
offer  is  the  care  which  is  taken  to  keep  the  news 
and  the  business  portions  of  the  newspaper 
apart.  Though  not  so  numerous,  the  advert- 
isements are,  in  appearance,  far  more  obtrusive 
than  in  the  average  English  journal  ;  but,  in  com- 
pensation, they  are,  as  a  rule,  given  a  place 
alone,  generally  in  separate  sheets,  an  act  of 


The  Newspaper  and  its  Readers   315 

consideration  which  the  English  newspaper 
reader  would  count  as  a  virtue  in  his  favourite 
publishers.  On  the  other  hand,  the  German 
newspaper  receives  many  advertisements  of  a 
kind  it  would  be  better  without.  It  has  its 
"agony"  column,  as  the  Times  has,  but  it  is 
alone  in  having  its  marriage  market,  and  a  very 
undignified  market  it  is.  Advertisements  like 
the  following,  which  are  taken  at  random  from 
newspapers  of  the  highest  standing,  do  not  con- 
fer dignity  on  the  Press,  or  reflect  creditably 
upon  the  people  who  pay  high  prices  for  their 
appearance:  "Manager  of  an  old  institution, 
of  pleasant  exterior,  seeks  a  pretty,  presentable 
lady  (widow),  very  strong,  weight  seventy-five 
to  eighty-five  kilogrammes,  but  of  fine  figure, 
as  helpmate.  '  "I  seek  a  husband  ;  how  shall 
1  go  about  it  ?  Kind  advice  is  sought  by,"  etc. 
"An  Israelite  lady,  twenty-three  years  old, 
beautiful,  of  a  highly  esteemed  family,  with  a 
dowry  of  eight  million  marks  (,£40,000),  desires 
to  become  acquainted  with  a  gentleman,  count 
or  baron,  free  from  prejudice  against  her  race, 
with  a  view  to  marriage.  An  introduction  may 
easily  be  arranged  to  take  place  in  a  health  resort 
to  be  named,  and  the  tact  and  discretion  of  the 
lady  may  be  relied  upon.  The  advertiser  is 
prepared  to  be  baptised  into  the  religion  of  the 
gentleman." 

The  domestic  joys  and  sorrows  also  occupy  a 


316  German  Life 

place  in  the  German  newspaper  which  the  na- 
tional reserve  would  not  approve  in  England. 
The  announcements  of  births  and  deaths  are  not 
restricted  to  bare  facts,  but  are  weighted  with 
an  amount  of  detail  which  would  shock  the 

English  sensibility.     Thus:     "J-     -S begs 

to  announce,  with  great  pleasure,  that  his  wife 
has  given  birth  to  a  healthy  and  heavy  boy." 
"On  the  Emperor's  birthday  God  has  made  us 
happy  by  the  birth  of  a  healthy  boy."  "The 
happy  birth  of  a  healthy  and  strong  girl  is  an- 
nounced by  A-  -  S-  —  and  wife."  "Just  ar- 
rived, a  strong  boy. — S-  -  CL-  -  and  wife." 
"  I  hereby  announce  to  relatives  and  friends  the 
happy  delivery  of  my  dear  wife,  Clara,  of  a 
healthy  boy. "  Betrothals  are  regularly  announced 
in  the  newspapers,  and  it  not  infrequently  hap- 
pens that  when  an  engagement  to  marry  is 
abruptly  broken  off  the  parents  on  both  sides 
publish  to  the  world  independent  and  not  neces- 
sarily identical  versions  of  the  affair.  The  lady's 
parents  naturally  let  it  be  understood  that  it  has 
taken  place  entirely  by  their  wish,  while  the 
bridegroom's  explanation  depends,  of  course, 
upon  his  good-nature  and  sense  of  chivalry. 

Of  obituary  notices  the  following  is  a  fair 
sample,  save  that  it  is  shorter  than  usual  :  "  To- 
day died  suddenly,  at  8.45  A.M.,  our  dear,  heart- 
good,  beloved  father,  father-in-law,  grandfather, 
brother-in-law,  and  uncle,  the  rentier  C 


The  Newspaper  and  its  Readers  317 

T-  — ,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age.  The 
mourning  relatives  ask  for  unspoken  sympathy." 
Novel  in  their  way,  too,  are  the  eulogistic  me- 
morial notices  and  verses  frequently  published 
on  the  anniversaries  of  the  deaths  of  respected 
citizens  by  friends  and  admirers.  It  is  a  harm- 
less and  even  admirable  way  of  paying  tribute  to 
departed  worth,  and  a  good  set-off  against  the 
want  of  appreciation  from  which  even  the  best 
of  men  and  women  may  suffer  during  life. 


INDEX 

ADDRESS,  modes  of,  39 

Agricultural  labourer,  the,  80,  8 1  ;  wages,  82  ;  his  dwelling,  85 

Army,  the,  92  ;  cost,  93  ;  disciplinary  advantages,  96  ;  relation 

to  the  civil  population,  106 
Arndt,  Ernst  M.,  i 

BATHS,  the,  226 

Berlin,  workers'  wages,  49  ;  rents,  59,  197 

"  Berliner,"  characteristics  of  the,  236 

Bismarck,  Prince,  6,  14,  38,  165,  218,  307,  308 

Bosse,  Minister,  126 

Bureaucracy,  the,  280 

Cafe,  the,  244^. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  5,  207 

Church  festivals,  the,  1 54 

Civil  marriage,  the,  147 

Commercial  progress,  13 

Constitution,  the  imperial,  3,  126,  143,  257,  259,  264 

Cookery,  202 

Co-operation,  57 

Costume,  rural,  72 

Customs,  popular,  73,   154 


DANCING  saloon,  the,  61 
Decorations,  38 


319 


320  Index 

Domestic  arrangements,  196 
Drama,  the,  207 

Drinking  habit,  the,  60,  244,  248 
Duelling,  1 10 

EDUCATION,  public,  122  ;  cost,  134 

Education  versus  wealth,  23  ;  diffusion  of,  25,  122 

Elections,  parliamentary,  260 

Emperor,  his  prerogatives,  6 

Emperor  William  I.,  111  ;  William  II.,  112,  120,  167 

Empire,  how  constituted,  2  ;  stability,  9  ;  relation  to  States,  7, 

10,  14,  256 

English  and  German  defensive  expenditure  compared,  93,   101 
English  dramatic  taste,  208 

FALK,  Minister,  126 

Family  life,  62,  186 

Flat  system,  the,  198 

Frederick  the  Great  and  popular  freedom,  260 

Freitag,  Gustav,  32 

GERMAN  and  English  defensive  expenditure  compared,  93,  101 

Girls,  education  of,  183,  190 

Gneisenau  and  army  reform,  104 

Gneist,  Rudolf  von,  9 

Gossler,  Minister  von,  126 

Government,  imperial,  257  ;  municipal,  271  ;  provincial,  277 

Gymnasia,  the,  130,  185 

Gymnastic  clubs  and  exercises,  129,  217 

HARNACK,  Professor,   169 
Hausfrau,  the,  186 
Heating,  domestic,  199 
Heine  on  London,  246 
Henry  the  Fowler,  4 
Hohenlohe,  Prince,  21 


Index  321 

Hohenzoflern  family,  5 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  2,  34 
Home  life,  185^.,  196 
Honours  and  titles,  33 

JAHN,  Friedrich  Ludwig,  218 
Jews,  the,  125,  143 
Journalism,  German,  10,  301 

Landrath,  the,  278 
Lassalle,  Ferdinand,  55 
Letters,  German,  31 

MARCH  Revolution  of  1848,  9 

Marriage  customs,  77 

Military  service  and  system,  92  ;  advantages  and  disadvantages 

weighed,  96,  217  ;  popularity,  100 
Money,  influence  of,  22 
Morality,  61,  180 
Music,  214 

NOBILITY,  the,  33 

OFFICER  caste,  the,  26,  106 
Old  and  New  Germany,  17,  18 

PAN-GERMANISM,  15 

Peasantry,  the,  68 

Pleasures  and  pastimes,  207,  243 

Poles,  the,  82,  86,  1 76 

Police  law  and  the  policeman,  193,  260,  287 

Political  life,  ^93,  252,  293 

Press,  the,  9,  30 

Professional  life,  27 

Professional  salaries,  32,  128,  135,  137 

Protection,  effect  on  cost  of  living,  53 

Protestantism,  170 

Provincial  government,  277 


322  Index 

Provincial  life,  amenity  of,  25 
Prussia,  relation  to  the  Empire,  3-7 
Public  spirit,  lack  of,  280 

RATIONALISM,  125,  165,  172 

Religious,  divisions,  124,  142  ;  life  and  thought,  \^ff.\  ration- 


Rents,  in  towns,  59  ;  in  the  country,  197 
Reuter,  Fritz,  32 

Roman  Catholicism,  125,  142,  170 
Rural,  life  and  labour,  68  ;  customs,  73 

SCHMOLLER,   GustaV,  24 

Schools,  the,  122 

Schulze-Delitsch  and  co-operation,  57 

Second  ballot,  the,  267 

Secret  police,  the,  297 

Singing,  the  passion  for,  215 

Social  divisions,  22 

Social  prejudices,  25 

Social  reform  movements,  53,  64,  276 

Socialism  and  the  working  classes,  55,  172,  195 

Sports,  216,  217 

State  and  professions,  the,  27 

State  and  religion,  142 

State  versus  Empire,  6,  14 

Students'  fencing  clubs,  119 

Sudermann,  Hermann,  32 

Suicide  in  Saxony,  175 

Superstitions,  75 

THEATRE,  the,  207 

Titles  and  honours,  33 

Tourist  clubs,  223 

Town  Council,  the,  271 

Trade-unions  and  the  working  classes,  48,  52, 


Index 


323 


UNIVERSITIES,  the,  25,  135  ;  and  women,  190 
University  Extension  movement,  the,  65 

WILLIAM  I.,  Emperor,  in  ;  William  II.,  112,  120,  167 
Witchcraft,  belief  in,  75 
Woman,  position  of,  182 

Women  workers,  wages  of,  50;  social  position,  194 
Working  classes,  the  urban,  46  ;  hours  of  labour,  47  ;  wages. 
49  ;  organisation,  53  ;  politics,  5-5  ;  dwellings,  58 

ZEDLITZ,  Minister  von,  126 


THE  END 


Our  European  Neighbours 

Edited  by  WILLIAM  HARBUTT  DAWSON 

12°.    Illustrated.    Each,  net  $1.20 
By  Mail 1.30 

I.— FRENCH   LIFE  IN  TOWN   AND  COUNTRY 

By  HANNAH  LYNCH. 

"  Miss  Lynch 's  pages  are  thoroughly  interesting  and  suggestive. 
Her  style,  too,  is  not  common.  It  is  marked  by  vivacity  without 
any  drawback  of  looseness,  and  resembles  a  stream  that  runs 
strongly  and  evenly  between  walls.  It  is  at  once  distinguished  and 
useful.  .  „  .  Her  five-page  description  (not  dramatization)  of  the 
grasping  Paris  landlady  is  a  capital  piece  of  work.  .  .  .  Such 
well-finished  portraits  are  frequent  in  Miss  Lynch's  book,  which  is 
small,  inexpensive,  and  of  a  real  excellence." —  The  London  Academy. 

"  Miss  Lynch 's  book  is  particularly  notable.  It  is  the  first  of  a 
series  describing  the  home  and  social  life  of  various  European 
peoples — a  series  long  needed  and  sure  to  receive  a  warm  welcome. 
Her  style  is  frank,  vivacious,  entertaining,  captivating,  just  the 
kind  for  a  book  which  is  not  at  all  statistical,  political,  or  contro- 
versial. A  special  excellence  of  her  book,  reminding  one  of  Mr. 
Whiteing's,  lies  in  her  continual  contrast  of  the  English  and  the 
French,  and  she  thus  sums  up  her  praises:  'The  English  are 
admirable :  the  French  are  lovable.'  "—The  Outlook. 

II — GERMAN  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  W.  H.  DAWSON,  author  of  "Germany  and  the 
Germans,"  etc. 

"The  book  is  as  full  of  correct,  impartial,  well-digested,  and 
well-presented  information  as  an  egg  is  of  meat.  One  can  only 
recommend  it  heartily  and  without  reserve  to  all  who  wish  to  gain 
an  insight  into  German  life.  It  worthily  presents  a  great  nation, 
now  the  greatest  and  strongest  in  Europe." — Commercial  Advertiser. 

:.M.— RUSSIAN   LIFE  IN  TOWN   AND  COUNTRY 

By  FRANCIS  H.  E.  PALMER,  sometime  Secretary  to 
H.  H.  Prince  Droutskop-Loubetsky  (Equerry  to 
H.  M.  the  Emperor  of  Russia). 

"  We  would  recommend  this  above  all  other  works  of  its  charac- 
ter to  those  seeking  a  clear  general  understanding  of  Russian  life, 
character,  and  conditions,  but  who  have  not  the  leisure  or  inclina- 
tion to  read  more  voluminous  tomes.  ...  It  cannot  be  too  highly 
recommended,  for  it  conveys  practically  all  that  well-informed 
people  should  know  of  'Our  European  Neighbours.'  "— M^-il  and 
Express. 


Our  European  Neighbours 


IV — DUTCH  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  P.  M.   HOUGH,  B.A. 

"  There  is  no  other  book  which  gives  one  sc  clear  a  picture  of 
actual  life  in  the  Netherlands  at  the  present  date.  For  its  accurate 
presentation  of  the  Dutch  situation  in  art,  letters,  learning,  and 
politics  as  well  as  in  the  round  of  common  life  in  town  and  city, 
this  book  deserves  the  heartiest  praise."— Evening  Post. 

"Holland  is  always  interesting,  in  any  line  of  study.  In  this 
work  its  charm  is  carefully  preserved.  The  sturdy  toil  of  the  people, 
their  quaint  characteristics,  their  conservative  retention  of  old  dress 
and  customs,  their  quiet  abstention  from  taking  part  in  the  great 
affairs  of  the  world  are  clearly  reflected  in  this  faithful  mirror.  The 
illustrations  are  of  a  high  grade  of  photographic  reproductions." — 
Washington  Post. 

V — SWISS  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  ALFRED  T.  STORY,  author  of  the  "  Building  of 
the  British  Empire,"  etc. 

"  We  do  not  know  a  single  compact  book  on  the  same  subject 
in  which  Swiss  character  in  all  its  variety  finds  so  sympathetic  and 
yet  thorough  treatment ;  the  reason  of  this  being  that  the  author 
has  enjoyed  privileges  of  unusual  intimacy  with  all  classes,  which 
prevented  his  lumping  the  people  as  a  whole  without  distinction 
of  racial  and  cantonal  feeling."—  Nation. 

"There  is  no  phase  of  the  lives  of  these  sturdy  republicans, 
whether  social  or  political,  which  Mr.  Story  does  not  touch  upon ; 
and  an  abundance  of  illustrations  drawn  from  unhackneyed  sub- 
jects adds  to  the  value  of  the  book."— Chicago  Dial. 

VI.— SPANISH  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  L.  HIGGIN. 

"Illuminating  in  all  of  its  chapters.  She  writes  in  thorough 
sympathy,  born  of  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  Spanish 
people  of  to-day."— St.  Paul  Press. 

"The  author  knows  her  subject  thoroughly  and  has  written  a 
most  admirable  volume.  She  writes  with  genuine  love  for  the 
Spaniards,  and  with  a  sympathetic  knowledge  of  their  character 
and  their  method  of  life."— Canada  Methodist  Review. 


Our  European  Neighbours 


.— ITALIAN  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  LUIGI  VILLARI. 

"  A  most  interesting  and  instructive  volume,  which  presents  an 
intimate  view  of  the  social  habits  and  manner  of  thought  of  the 
people  of  which  it  treats." — Buffalo  Express. 

"  A  book  full  of  information,  comprehensive  and  accurate.  Its 
numerous  attractive  illustrations  add  to  its  interest  and  value.  We 
are  glad  to  welcome  such  an  addition  to  an  excellent  series."— 
Syracuse  Herald. 


VIII.— DANISH  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  JESSIE  H.  BROCHNER. 

"  Miss  Brochner  has  written  an  interesting  book  on  a  fascinat- 
ing subject,  a  book  which  should  arouse  an  interest  in  Denmark  in 
those  who  have  not  been  there,  and  which  can  make  those  who 
know  and  are  attracted  by  the  country  very  homesick  to  return." — 
Commercial  Advertiser. 

"She  has  sketched  with  loving  art  the  simple,  yet  pure  and 
elevated  lives  of  her  countrymen,  and  given  the  reader  an  excellent 
idea  of  the  Danes  from  every  point  of  view."— Chicago  Tribune. 


IX — AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN   LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND 
COUNTRY 

By  FRANCIS   H.  E.  PALMER,  author  of   '*  Russian 
Life  in  Town  and  Country,"  etc. 

"  No  volume  in  this  interesting  series  seems  to  us  so  notable  01 
valuable  as  this  on  Austro-Hungarian  life.  Mr.  Palmer's  long  resi« 
dence  in  Europe  and  his  intimate  association  with  men  of  mark, 
especially  in  their  home  life,  has  given  to  him  a  richness  of  experi- 
ence evident  on  every  page  of  the  book."—  The  Outlook. 

"This  book  cannot  be  too  warmly  recommended  to  those  who 
have  not  the  leisure  or  the  spirit  to  read  voluminous  tomes  of  this 
subject,  yet  we  wish  a  clear  general  understanding  of  Austro-Hua 
garian  life."— Hartford  Times. 


Our  European  Neighbours 


X.— TURKISH  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  L.  M.  J.  GARNETT. 

"  The  general  tone  of  the  book  is  that  of  a  careful  study,  the 
style  is  flowing,  and  the  matter  is  presented  in  a  bright,  taking 
way."—  St.  Paul  Press. 

"To  the  average  mind  the  Turk  is  a  little  better  than  a  blood- 
thirsty individual  with  a  plurality  of  wives  and  a  paucity  of  vir- 
tues. To  read  this  book  is  to  be  pleasantly  disillusioned."- -Public 
Opinion. 


XI.— BELGIAN  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  DEMETRIUS  C.  BOULGEK 

"  Mr.  Boulger  has  given  a  plain,  straight-forward  account  of 
the  several  phases  of  Belgian  I,ife,  the  government,  the  court,  the 
manufacturing  centers  and  enterprises,  the  literature  and  science, 
the  army,  education  and  religion,  set  forth  informingly. " — The 

Detroit  Free  Press. 

"  The  book  is  oue  of  real  value  conscientiously  written,  and 
well  illustrated  by  good  photographs."—  The  Outlook. 


XII.— SWEDISH  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  G.  VON  HEIDENSTAM. 

"As  we  read  this  interesting  book  we  seem  to  be  wandering 
through  this  land,  visiting  its  homes  and  schools  and  churches, 
studying  its  government  and  farms  and  industries,  and  observing 
the  dress  and  customs  and  amusements  of  its  healthy  and  happy 
people.  The  book  is  delightfully  written  and  beautifully  illus- 
trated."— Presbyterian  Bannet . 

"In  this  intimate  account  of  the  Swedish  people  is  given  a 
more  instructive  view  of  their  political  and  social  relations  than  it 
has  been  the  good  fortune  of  American  readers  heretofore  to  ob- 
tain."— Washington  Even.  Star. 


Our  Asiatic  Neighbours 


12°.    Illustrated.    Bach,  net  $1.20 
By  mail     ...  . 


8.— INDIAN  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  HERBERT  COMPTON. 

"  Mr.  Compton's  book  is  the  best  book  on  India,  its  life  and  Its 
people,  that  has  been  published  in  a  long  time.  The  reader  will 
nna  it  more  descriptive  and  presenting  more  facts  in  a  way  that 
appeals  to  the  man  of  English  speech  than  nine-tenths  of  the 
•volumes  written  by  travellers.  It  sets  forth  the  experiences  of  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  and  in  that  period  a  man  can  learn  a  good 
deal,  even  about  an  alien  people  and  civilization,  if  he  keeps  his 
eyes  open.  If  the  other  volumes  in  the  series  are  as  good  as 
'Indian  Life  in  Town  and  Country'  it  will  score  a  decided  suc- 
cess."—Brooklyn  Eagle. 

"  An  account  of  native  life  in  India  written  from  the  point  of  view 
of  a  practical  man  of  affairs  who  knows  India  from  long  residence 
It  is  bristling  with  information,  brisk  and  graphic  in  style,  and 
open-minded  and  sympathetic  in  feeling." — Cleveland  Leader. 


51,-JAPANESE  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  GEORGE  WILLIAM  KNOX,  D.D. 

"  The  childlike  simplicity,  yet  innate  complexity  of  the  Japanese 
temperament,  the  strangely  mingled  combination  of  new  and  old, 
Important  and  worthless,  poetic  and  commercial  instincts,  aims, 
and  ambitions  now  at  work  in  the  land  of  the  cherry  blossom  are 
well  brought  out  by  Dr.  Knox's  conscientious  representation.  The 
book  should  be  widely  read  and  studied,  being  eminently  reason- 
able, readable,  reliable,  and  inform alive."— Record-Herald. 

"  A  delightful  book,  all  the  more  welcome  because  the  ablest 
scholar  in  Japanese  Confucianism  that  America  has  yet  produced 
has  here  given  us  impressions  of  man  and  nature  in  the  Archi- 
pelago. "-^Evening  Post. 


Our  Asiatic  Neighbours 


III  —  CHINESE   LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  E.  BARD.    Adapted  by  H. 


Every  phase  of  Chinese  life  is  touched  on,  explained,  and  made 
dear  in  this  volume.  The  nation's  customs,  its  traits,  its  religion, 
and  its  history,  are  all  outlined  here,  and  the  book  should  be  of 
great  value  in  arriving  at  a  better  understanding  of  a  people  and  a 
country  about  which  there  has  been  so  much  misconception.  The 
illustrations  add  greatly  to  the  value  of  the  book. 

IV.—  AUSTRALIAN  LIFE  IN  TOWN  AND  COUNTRY 

By  E.  C.  BUI.EY. 

A  bright,  readable  description  of  life  in  a  fascinating  and  little- 
known  country.  The  style  is  frank,  vivacious,  entertaining,  cap- 
tivating, just  the  kind  for  a  book  which  is  not  at  all  statistical. 
political,  or  controversial. 

V.—  PHILIPPINE  LIFE  IN  TOWN   AND  COUNTRY 

By  JAMES  A.  LERov. 

Mr.  LeRoy  is  eminently  fitted  to  write  on  life  in  the  Philip- 
pines. He  was  for  several  years  connected  with  the  Department  of 
the  Interior  in  the  Philippine  Government,  when  he  made  a 
special  investigation  of  conditions  in  the  islands.  Since  his  return 
he  has  continued  his  studies  and  is  already  known  as  an  author- 
ity on  the  Philippines.  His  book  gives  a  full  description  of  life 
among  the  native  tribes,  and  also  in  the  Spanish  and  American 
communities. 


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